


To Save the World

by taetaenoway



Series: Assassination Academia [1]
Category: Assassination Classroom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Assassination and Quirks, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, BAMF Shinsou Hitoshi, Class 3-E Bonding, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Bullying, Kayano Kaede Does Not Exist, Korosensei is the Number One Villain, M/M, Midoriya and Shinsou are hero buddies who wanna save the world, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Shinsou and Midoriya in Class 3-E
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2019-10-02 13:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 141,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17265155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taetaenoway/pseuds/taetaenoway
Summary: Midoriya Izuku was just trying to escape Bakugou's bullying and achieve his dream of attending the prestigious UA. He assumed the cutthroat Kunugigaoka Junior High would prepare him for that. Too bad he was immediately booted to class 3-E for being quirkless.Shinsou Hitoshi was planning for his time at Kunugigaoka Junior High to be spent under the radar. He kept his grades average and interactions with others minimal. But when an incident occurs that requires him to use his quirk at school unauthorized (even though he did it to help another student), he finds himself immediately being moved to class 3-E.When the moon exploded due to the dangerous villain known by the papers as the Tentacle, the last thing anyone expected was for him to want to teach 3-E. Now Izuku, Hitoshi and their classmates are expected to become assassins, kill the number one villain, and save the earth from the same fate.





	1. To Get a New Start (Ep. 1-4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story follows the storyline of Assassination Classroom, so it will be very helpful if you have watched the anime, but you can do without it.
> 
> Yes, this is my shameless way of telling you to watch it because it's AMAZING.
> 
> Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

When the moon exploded, it finally dawned on Izuku how weak they all were.

He had spent his whole life enthralled with displays of incredible abilities; of the feats of heroes as great as All-Might, who could stop any villain and save hundreds, thousands of people at once. They gave him hope that anything was achievable and that anyone, including himself, could be a hero.

But then the moon burst, leaving only thirty percent behind and a permanent crescent shape. And it made Izuku realize that, while many things may be possible, there are some things that will always be inevitable.

Because not even heroes as great as All-Might could stop horrors as shell-shocking as the dutiful rock satellite of the earth being blown to bits.

-.-.-.-

A giant, yellow octopus man was revealed to be behind it all. The man — no, creature — had given himself up to the authorities almost sardonically right afterward, as if to say it didn’t matter if he was arrested; he could still wreak havoc everywhere.

And boy, did he. Crime rates spiked exponentially after the moon incident — everyone seemed to have it in their minds that the earth was next, so many were turning to anarchy as an apparent proper way to live out the world’s final days. Every hero, cop, paramedic, firefighter, and military personnel was working double time, while the rest of the population cowered in fear.

It seemed not even All-Might could bring hope.

It was quite ironic then, of course, for Izuku to show up to school the next day only to learn that the hope of earth was laid in the hands of his ill-motivated classmates and him.

Later, he would learn it was even more ironic that his new personal source of hope would be the very powerful, yellow tentacle creature that stole it from rest of the world.

-.-.-.-

When Izuku came home bruised and bloodied for the third time in a week, all thanks to Bakugou and his goons, his mother had decided enough was enough. The next day, Izuku was withdrawn from the school and registered to transfer to the ever prestigious Kunugigaoka Junior High. His mother hoped it would help him get into an academically strong school for high school. Izuku just hoped U.A. would think as highly of it as well.

Before he could attend, however, he was first required to take a written test, followed by an evaluation, to determine what class placement he would receive.

(Apparently, class placement was a very sacred thing here at Kunugigaoka, judging by the secretary’s expression as she explained it all.)

The written portion of the test was by far the hardest test he had ever taken, but such was to be expected of such a prestigious program. He felt confident in his answers, though. He had been a competing force for top of the class against Bakugou at his old school since they were children.

The examination was more what Izuku was concerned about. There hadn’t been much explanation on what it would entail; he didn’t know if it was going to be more practical based, or a physical exam. He just prayed going in that it wouldn’t require _too_ much running.

It turned out to be way worse than running.

He walked into a dimly lit room where a panel of teachers and administrators sat at the front to ‘judge him and the resourcefulness and strength of his capabilities’. The intimidating, deep-voiced man sitting front and center then asked him to present the best merits of his quirk.

To this day, there has been nothing more humiliating than having to look the faculty board in the eye and tell them he was quirkless.

The intimidating man unabashedly laughed at him, and all the other adults followed in suit. A woman with a firework hair quirk laughed so hard she let off sparklers, while another man shaped like a literal egg rolled out of his chair and across the floor. The intimidating man then suddenly composed himself.

“The gap between the strong and weak grows larger every day,” he said, his voice low and mocking. “There’s no doubt where you belong. You may leave now.”

Izuku ran out of there so quickly it probably looked like he actually had a speed quirk all along.

He got his official acceptance letter a few days later. He was honestly surprised to see it, but figured that maybe they were the type of school not willing to turn down anyone offering to pay their outrageous tuition prices.

(He would later learn this school had a very different objective for those ‘weaker’ prospects they accepted.)

The letter was quite simple in layout, with its main message in display in large, red letters.

**Class: 3-E**

-.-.-.-

Class 3-E was unlike any other class in the world.

For starters, it was located high on a mountain next to the main campus, so students had to trek up it every day just to get to class.

Second, it was held in a run-down wooden building with no air-conditioning and barely functioning water. There was no available cafeteria set out for the students, or designated sports facilities to hold athletics in.

Thirdly, those apart of the class were ostracized and isolated from the rest of the student body as punishment for their poor performance, as well as motivation for those on the main campus to work hard to stay there. This meant 3-E students couldn’t participate in any extracurricular activities or clubs provided on the main campus.

And finally, the students were the most depressing bunch of people Izuku had ever met. Apparently, if you were a part of 3-E it meant one of a couple possibilities; your grades had fallen behind to the point that you were ranked at the bottom of all the school; you had disciplinary issues or conflicts with school policy in the past; or your quirk was deemed to hold ‘no potential’.

Or you were quirkless, in Izuku’s case.

The teacher was nice, at least, if not a little eccentric. Her fashion choice was questionable at best, and her jokes often fell flat, but her concern for and dedication to her students was undeniable. She welcomed him warmly the first day, even when he came in a little late (he had gotten terribly lost in the woods, and even almost fell upon a snake’s nest at one point), and happily introduced him to the class of hopeless misfits.

“Hi there, you must be the new student!” she said, her smile unceasing. “I’m Yukimura-sensei! Why don’t you introduce yourself? Tell us your name, and maybe even a fun fact about yourself. Oh, and also your dream in life! I know many of your classmates have lost a lot of motivation for their dreams, but our class goal this year is to get all that drive and inspiration back!”

“O-okay,” he replied awkwardly before turning to his classmates. He could feel their burning stares and lowered his eyes to the floor instinctively. “My name is Midoriya Izuku. I just transferred here from Aldera Junior High. A fun fact about me is that I love heroes, especially All-Might, and as for my dream, well…” He clenched and unclenched his fists as he found the nerve to briefly look his classmates in the eye.

“My dream is to become a hero as great as my idol, All-Might.”

His second of courage dissipated, he immediately dropped into a deep, ninety-degree bow as he cursed himself for admitting such a thing aloud. He probably sounded so stupid in front of them; now they were probably all going to make fun of him, and it’ll be like he never escaped Bakugou—

“Is your quirk speed talking? Because you sure can mumble, man,” said a handsome strawberry blond haired boy. A girl with pale brown hair pulled back in a pony sent the boy a sharp look.

“Be nice, Maehara,” she said before turning back to Izuku. “It’s nice to meet you, Midoriya. I’m Kataoka Megu, one of your class representatives. And I would just like to say, I think your dream is very honorable. There’s no need to look embarrassed about it.”

A dark-haired, handsome boy with golden eyes nodded eagerly. “A lot of people like to think they could be a hero, but only a few would be able to honestly admit it as their greatest dream.”

Izuku felt like he could start crying right then, right there. Only about a minute in, and these people were already more accepting than anyone else in his life; even more than his mother.

 _It’s because they don’t know you’re a quirkless loser yet, Deku,_ Bakugou’s voice seemed to echo in his head. Despite it all, he put on a brave smile.

“Thank y-you!” he said.

“Hey, didn’t Shinsou say he wanted to be a hero too?” a blue-haired androgynous looking boy (at least he guessed because of the pants) commented. “Maybe you guys could train together!”

An athletic boy with black hair and red sweatbands on his wrists snorted loudly. “He’ll have to wait until Shinsou gets back from suspension later this week, remember?”

“Okay, enough chit-chat,” Yukimura-sensei said suddenly. “It’s very nice to meet you, Midoriya. Why don’t you take the seat next to Nagisa? I believe it’s empty.”

The androgynous boy waved and Midoriya moved swiftly to sit in the rickety desk. He took off his backpack and opened it up to start pulling out his needed materials while Yukimura-sensei got started on their first lesson.

“You keep data notebooks too?” a quiet whisper came from next to him. Izuku jumped and saw Nagisa staring down at his bag, where all of his most recent _Hero Analysis for the Future_ notebook sat in plain sight. He could feel a blush creep up his face and scrambled to make up an excuse, but stopped short when he noticed the blue-haired boy pull out a small notebook of his own labeled _Quirk Potential and Limitations Study._

Izuku couldn’t help the bright smile that lit up his face, and Nagisa easily matched it. A strong, uncontrollable sense of trustworthiness overcame him when he looked at the blue-haired boy. Something told him this was the beginning of a wonderful, data analysis-filled friendship.

So, at the end the day, class 3-E may be in the boonies with little accommodations, and they may be a bunch of destined failures, but at least he had a friend. It was more than he ever had before.

-.-.-.-

He met Shinsou Hitoshi two days later. The boy looked like death itself (except more purple), and he seemed kind of standoffish. Izuku was honestly very apprehensive about him at first, wondering what he could’ve possibly done to be suspended.

But then the purple-haired boy sat down in the desk behind Izuku and tapped on his shoulder.

“Your hair looks like broccoli, you know that right?” he said bluntly. Izuku blinked widely.

“A-And yours looks like an eggplant,” he replied nervously, his palms sweating. Shinsou smirked, seemingly approving.

“You’re funny,” he said, but then his eyes narrowed in on Izuku’s uncontrollably shaking palms and frowned. When he looked back up, Izuku felt a strange power overcome his body, tying him down effortlessly in his own body. “Hey. Calm down. It’s alright.”

And just like that, Izuku could feel his body calming. His heart rate slowed, his hands stopped shaking and sweating. It all felt very unnatural, but he had no control of anything. Then, just as quickly as it came, the imaginary bonds faded and he could move for himself again. Shinsou looked strangely ashamed, but Izuku wasn’t exactly sure why. He had helped, hadn’t he?

“You should really get more sleep,” Izuku said awkwardly, trying to snap the strange tension. “You look like you’re going to pass out any second.”

He could actually see the anxiety ease out of Shinsou, his shoulders visibly relaxing and the playful smirk returning to his face.

“If you’re really so concerned about my health, Jolly Green, you’ll bring me a decent cup of coffee in the morning. That’ll keep me from passing out,” he said. “Now, can you hit me up with any notes I missed?”

-.-.-.-

The next morning, Izuku showed up to school with a cup of coffee he got from the batch his mother made that morning. He handed it to the purple-haired boy upon arriving in the classroom. The boy looked an odd cross of shocked, suspicious, and extremely pleased.

Shinsou said it tasted terrible and needed more cream but down the thing in seconds anyway.

-.-.-

Every day, he continued to bring Shinsou coffee (with extra creamer), and in exchange, Shinsou would bring him a small sweet from the convenience store he worked at. They talked often, and would hang out with Nagisa and his friend Sugino at lunch. Nagisa and Izuku would spend much of lunch geeking out about heroes and comparing separate notes. Most of the time they had the same data and analysis, but it was still exciting to finally talk to someone who had the same interest as him.

He still hadn’t revealed that he was quirkless, however, terrified that everyone’s opinions of him would change as they had with his old classmates. Though it’s not like he would try to lie if someone did ask him what his quirk was. It’s just that, well, no one did.

That was another odd thing about class 3-E. Unlike the rest of the world, they seemed pretty sealed lipped about their quirks. Aside from those with mutation quirks, who couldn’t hide them, no one else ever displayed them in class to show off or even help themselves with simple tasks. Even when geeking out with Nagisa, the boy deliberately talked about any quirk but his own. Shinsou had hinted at his quirk the first day they met when he helped Izuku calm down, but that was the last time he used it, and he never formally explained what it was.

It was like the end-class mentality had extended further than grades, and they had given up on their quirk to the point where they’d rather pretend they didn’t have one. It seemed like there was a rather stiff, decided line to avoid quirks. Even Yukimura-sensei, with all her encouragement, had learned to stop persuading them to embrace their quirks.

It was strange. It was unlike everyone else in the world.

But then again, it was E-class.

-.-.-

A week later, the moon exploded, Yukimura-sensei resigned and disappeared, and government officials showed up at their class with the world’s new number one villain, who claimed that he was going to be their new teacher (as well as apparently blow up the earth in a year).

“I’m Karasuma,” a dark-haired agent said. “This is classified information you’re about to be told, so what is said in here, stays in here. And, well, for the sake of mankind, I’m going to need you to kill this thing.”

The whole class practically blanched at the exact same time, unsure they actually heard the man correctly. “This is a joke, right?” someone voiced. The agent sighed loudly.

“There’s only so much I’m at the liberty to tell you, but what I can say is that he is still very much a threat, and this March he is going to obliterate the earth as well. We haven’t been successful in killing him yet, no matter how hard all the world leaders have tried. The greatest heroes can’t even touch him. He’s too fast — topping off at Mach-20 — and is superiorly intelligent in every way.” 

“It was quite amusing watching those little heroes try to stop me, but hey, I got to groom All-Might’s impeccable eyebrows! Who else can say they’ve done that, huh?” the octopus bragged. “In the end, though, I got bored and made them a deal that allows me to be your teacher at this shining institution!”

“What the hell?” Shinsou muttered.

“Look. We didn’t have much of an option here, but we did manage to make him swear to never let any harm come to the students in any way,” Karasuma said. “This does mean, however, that we have a very important mission for you. We need you all to train to become assassins and kill him before he can blow up the earth.”

The gasps were audible. Izuku exchanged incredulous looks with Nagisa, unsure he had heard the agent right.

_What?_

Shinsou blinked widely and rubbed his eyes as if he was trying to wake himself from a bad dream. Izuku instinctively pushed his coffee towards the purple-haired boy to encourage him to take a sip, all while wondering what the heck was going on.

“Oh. And if you succeed, you all get to split 10 billion yen. A small thank you for saving the entire planet.”

Shinsou choked and spewed out his coffee.

_WHAT?_

-.-.-.-

From that point forward, it became their mission to assassinate their teacher.

And they were really terrible at it.

It wasn’t entirely their fault. When your teacher can go Mach-20, it’s understandably difficult to hit him. Even when they all opened fire on him at the same time using their anti-sensei bullets, the man was still able to dodge every single one. It didn’t matter how many of them came at him, or how many different weapons they used, the man was too superior to be touched.

The day after he arrived, Izuku drew out a page for the creature in his notebook during lunch and began to fill out what he knew:

**Name: Unknown**

**Alias: The Tentacle**

**Quirk: Undefined. Seems to be an accumulation of quirks, if such a thing is possible. Known abilities extend to- super speed (up to Mach-20), invulnerability (save for anti-sensei material), tentacles (mutation quirk?), superior intelligence**

**Weaknesses:**

**Other information: Has strange cleaning fetish.**

“Don’t forget he also seems to change colors based on his mood,” Nagisa commented, watching what Izuku wrote as he filled out his own data. “Remember, Karasuma said that they know he gets green stripes on his face whenever he’s feeling arrogant. I’m trying to figure out what the other colors mean…”

Izuku hummed and added that information to the creature's known abilities. He was about to ask Shinsou if he had noticed anything else that would be useful, but then noticed the boy had fallen asleep on the ground and decided against it. It was about time his friend started catching up on his sleep.

“I think I’m going to focus more on gathering his weaknesses,” Nagisa said. “Maybe we can use it to finally devise a plan to kill him.”

Izuku sighed. “If he even has weaknesses…”

-.-.-.-

After Nagisa’s unexpected suicide bomber attempt, Izuku added two things to his notes on the Tentacle.

**Known ability- molting (sheds skin once a month, can act as a protective shield)**

**Name: Korosensei**

-.-.-.-

“Have you come up with a plan to kill him yet?” Shinsou asked one morning after they exchanged the coffee and sweet. Izuku awkwardly fiddled with the packaging on the treat.

“Um, not anything special, really. He just seems so strong, and well. I don’t see how someone like me could even come close.”

_I don’t see how a quirkless failure could even come close to killing a creature more powerful than All-Might…_

Ever since the government had given the assignment to kill Korosensei, Izuku had been increasingly uncomfortable. Not with the prospect of killing a teacher per-say (though that was pretty unnerving), but with the fact that someone like him was expected to do it. Someone who didn’t have a quirk to help him. He felt if he ever tried, he would just make a fool of himself. The only time he attempted so far was when the entire class decided to open fire on the creature during roll call. Any other plot, he stayed far away from.

“What about you?” Izuku asked.

Shinsou shrugged. “I’m not sure yet.”

-.-.-.-

When Izuku walked outside and found Sugino trapped and suspended in the air by Korosensei’s tentacles, a number of things happened.

Firstly, he screamed very loud. Like a girl, Shinsou would later him tell him.

Secondly, though he didn’t remember telling his body to do so, he started running towards the yellow octopus and his friend. Even though in his mind he knew there was no point, and it probably would just get him in bigger trouble, at the time he didn’t care. His friend needed his help.

Thirdly, he at some point pulled out his anti-sensei knife and began stabbing sporadically at the tentacle man. In the back of his mind, he noted this was the first time he went after his sensei one-on-one.

“Hey, Sugino didn’t do anything wrong when he tried to kill you, so put him down!” he cried. “We were just doing our job! And-And you promised you wouldn’t hurt any of us!”

Surprisingly, the octopus actually listened and placed the baseball player back on the ground.

“My, my Midoriya. I was beginning to worry this day would never come. I think that’s the first time you tried to attack me with effort! And all to save your classmate!” Korosensei sniffled and pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere, whipping his tearless eyes. “I’m so proud!”

The creature began to ugly sob and blow his nose for dramatic effect.

“You don’t even have a nose…” Sugino muttered.

“Minor details,” the octopus said, instantly composed. “Now, I didn’t mean to give you such a scare, Midoriya. I was just using my tentacles to get a full understanding of your classmate and his pitching potential, and I’ve come to my conclusion! You’ve been trying to mimic the pitch of pro-player Arita, correct?”

The question was obviously pointed at Sugino. The boy nodded, shocked, and Korosensei grinned almost menacingly.

“Well, I am pleased to inform you that you will never be like him!”

Their teacher said it as if he was praising them, and Izuku blanched. “Hey, you can’t just say that to a student!” He felt his body uncontrollably tense and prepare to fight to defend his friend again, but stopped when Sugino put a hand on his shoulder and scowled up at their teacher.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Your shoulders aren’t flexible enough to throw the famous Arita fast ball that you try to mimic,” Korosensei explained. “So, what I mean, is that the pitch you idolize is simply never going to be your thing.”

Izuku heard Sugino gasp and stood in front of his friend defensively. “What makes you so sure?” he cried, trying not to snivel. “What gives you the right to say he can never do it! Is it just because we’re a bunch of E-class losers? Predetermined lost-causes at best, right? Well, you’re wrong! We can be even better! We could all be heroes!”

He locked eyes with his teacher, and an unidentifiable spark passed through the creature’s beady eyes. His smirk softened.

“I never said you were lost-causes,” Korosensei said softly before suddenly perking up, holding a newspaper showing a major league baseball player suspended in the air by tentacles. “I’m just speaking through first-hand experience!”

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Sugino and Izuku shouted at the same time.

“You see, Sugino is different from his idol in many ways, so trying to follow in his footsteps completely is redundant. That doesn’t mean, however, that you don’t have any talent. You’re more flexible in your wrists and elbows than Akira, so you should put your focus there when you throw,” Korosensei explained. “In the end, while those we idolize help us dream, we shouldn’t dream to become exactly like them because, well, we aren’t. But just because we have different talents or quirks doesn’t mean we aren’t strong. Instead, strive to become your own person; to be better.”

Izuku could only blink. His whole life he had dreamed of becoming a hero like All-Might. It’s all he’s ever wanted. And now this yellow tentacle villain was telling him to be a hero he's envisioned, but to not be All-Might...

“Oh, and by the way,” Korosensei added, his expression suddenly become dark. Izuku took a step back instinctively. “There’s been a suspicious trend I’ve picked up on since my arrival, and I believe Sugino’s assassination attempt with the baseball has only confirmed it. What is your quirk, Sugino?”

The boy shuffled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. “Uh, it’s called Energizing, sir. It allows me to take kinetic and potential energy built up in my body and thrust it into inanimate objects I touch to increase their energy.”

Korosensei hummed. “And doing so, would you say, has the potential to drastically increase an object’s speed, correct?”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, basically.”

“Then why,” the teacher began, suddenly a lot closer and towering of the two students. His face had turned dark and menacing, and his voice deepened. “Did you not use it to increase your pitch speed when you tried to assassinate me?”

-.-.-.-

“It has been brought to my attention,” Korosensei started after he finished calling role. “That you all have developed an odd diversion, so to speak, to using your quirks, and I can’t seem to understand why. I am a superior being with numerous quirks. Even the one quirk you all possess has little on me, but it at least gives you more of an edge than not using it at all. So why wouldn’t you take advantage of that? I mean,” two pink dots, like a blush appeared on his face as tears streamed down his face. “If you really didn’t want to kill me so badly, you should’ve just said so! We could’ve gotten over the formalities days ago and gotten right to becoming best friends forever!”

All he got was silence. The students were all trying to divert their eyes or avoid bringing attention to themselves. Izuku felt himself instinctively sinking down in his seat.

“Anyone? Isogai?” the teacher asked. The male representative jumped slightly at his name being called.

“Um, well,” he said hesitantly. “We are E-class, sir. A majority of us are here because our quirks were too weak or useless to compete against our classmates on the main campus, and we kept getting ranked last in quirk evaluations. It’s not that we didn’t want to use them to kill you, it’s just that…well, most of them wouldn’t really make a difference.”

There was a murmur of agreement running across the room, and many students were nodding absentmindedly, including Nagisa. Izuku noted that Shinsou never reacted and had opted for laying his head down on his desk.

“Hmm,” Korosensei hummed. “Do you all feel this way?”

Izuku blinked at the straightforward question and side-eyed his purple-haired friend, wondering what he had to say. A loud crash caught his attention, however, and he saw Terasaka, a large, delinquent boy with a mutation quirk that made him look like a lion-human crossbreed had stood up so fast he knocked over his chair.

“Well, I sure as hell don’t,” the boy said. “Unlike most of these posers, me and my squad don’t have quirks that we can hide or pretend don’t exist. So just you wait. We may not have the brains to come up with elaborate plans like some people, but we sure do have the brawn. We’ll take you down soon, I swear.”

Izuku wasn’t quite sure how he had never noticed before. Granted, he had always avoided Terasaka and his little gang like the plague, especially after what they put Nagisa up to, but he didn’t know how he had never noticed they all had visible mutation-based quirks. Muramatsu was like Terasaka, only he took on coyote features (even his head was shaped like the animal); Yoshida had some metal-looking mutation, considering most of his skin was steel and he had random body parts that resembled that of a car, like his left eye that looked like a headlight; and Hazama, the lone girl, was a constant literal shadow with dark, undefinable features.

They were the only students with obvious mutation quirks. No wonder they stuck together.

(That, and they were all delinquent punks.)

Korosensei smiled widely. “That’s the spirit!” he said. “And on that note, I am hereby adding an additional course to your workload: Quirk Training! I am going to teach you to take advantage of the true potential of all your quirks, and no matter how useless they seem now, I promise by the end of the year that you will be the most powerful in the whole school!”

“What?” many of the students voiced at once.

“Are you crazy, sir?” called out Nagisa.

“Oh, and by end-of-term finals I want all of you to have used your quirk in an assassination attempt, or you will face _extreme_ consequences,” Korosensei added darkly. Izuku gulped and felt all the blood drained from his face.

Well, crap.

-.-.-.-

Izuku finally got to meet the infamous Karma. The boy was violent, calculating, and downright insane. Within his first minute back in class, he was able to injure Korosensei, blowing off a tentacle by gluing strips of an anti-sensei knife to his palm — a feat no one else had been remotely close to achieving. Then, just later that day, he did it again by leaving anti-sensei bullets on the ground and riling the creature up so he was distracted. He found a weakness in their teacher and instantly exploited it. He was ruthless, clever, and powerful.

And he seemed to do it all without using a quirk.

It drove Korosensei mad.

He had just started trying to prove to the kids that they shouldn’t be shunning their quirks, and should be using all their talents if they want to win, and yet here was a boy defying it all.

It only lasted so long, though. By the second day, Korosensei was able to thwart all of Karma’s numerous attempts with ease. It infuriated the red-haired boy, but even after his apparent suicide attempt by throwing himself off the mountain, Karma seemed to decide to fuel his frustrations into determination. He may have stopped his elaborate schemes to assassinate Korosensei, but he continued to torment the villain unceasingly.

And just like that, everything seemed to go back to normal.

Well, as normal as a class of assassins can be.

-.-.-.-

Despite just meeting for the first time, Karma and Shinsou became instant friends.

Izuku had never feared for his life more.

They seemed to bond over their mutual blunt sense of humor and occasional sadistic tendencies. As he watched them chat amicably at lunch, discussing anything from heroes to the best way to piss off Korosensei, he felt himself sweat drop. He side-glanced and saw Nagisa do the same thing.

“Should we be worried?” Izuku asked. Nagisa nodded slowly.

“Very.”

-.-.-.-

When it came time for P.E., they were shocked when Karasuma revealed they wouldn’t be needing their weapons today.

“We’re having a different training lesson today,” he explained. “I have decided to personally take charge of your Quirk Training class — at least for the first few lessons. I figured it would be an unfair advantage for Korosensei to teach and learn all of your quirk's abilities before you can ever use them. We don’t want to lose that possible element of surprise.”

“What’s to keep him from sneaking in and learning all of our quirks without us knowing?” asked Nakamura. Karasuma coughed awkwardly.

“We, uh, hired someone to help keep him distracted for a while. Or today, at least,” he answered and motioned to the building. Korosensei stood there, his face a new pink color Izuku took special note of to write down later. A blonde foreign woman with a giant bust clung off his tentacle flirtatiously. All the students gaped, though while most of the boys were fawning, the girls looked extremely irritated.

“Wow, what a knock-out!” Okajima commented, practically drooling.

“Why is she here? And why is she all over Korosensei?” Fuwa asked dryly.

“She’s here as an English teacher. Her name is Irina Jelavić, a highly trained professional assassin. I’ll formally introduce her later, but for now, I have asked her to distract Korosensei. Such a task is, uh, kind of her specialty,” Karasuma explained.

Izuku could understand why. Even when he tried to, he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off her. Every time he tried to look away, there was this incessant pull to just look back again. It seemed like all the boys were that way. Even Karma looked intrigued, those his expression was a little too cynical for comfort. The only ones who didn’t seem to be enveloped in the strange spell was the girls, Karasuma, and…

_Shinsou?_

The purple-haired boy had pulled out his phone and was playing some game, completely disinterested in the scene. It was very odd. Izuku figured the woman had some kind of dull mind control quirk that caused men to be uncontrollably drawn to her. It would explain while the girls could still function normally, and, well, Karasuma probably couldn’t experience such feelings for anyone even if he was brainwashed. But why wouldn’t Shinsou be able to…?

“Oh, Korosensei,” the woman said. “Do you think we could go somewhere with more fresh air? It’s getting awfully hard for me to breathe, you see?” For effect, the woman began to pull at her extremely tight shirt, revealing even more of her bust to the point everyone could see the entire top of her bra. Izuku’s cheeks flamed up so bright it felt like he was sunburned.

“Dude, stop watching that. It’s practically soft porn,” Shinsou commented, given him a weird look. Izuku tried to formulate a sentence, but it felt like the spell was only growing thicker. He felt the sudden urge to run towards the woman.

“Okay, man, you just look like Christmas now. Cut it out, won’t you?” Shinsou said and suddenly slapped his hand over Izuku’s eyes.

“Hey, don’t!” Izuku couldn’t help but cry out, the desire to stare at the woman too strong. But then, just like that, it was gone, and he felt that strange sensation all over again as if he was being restrained in his own body.

“I’m not sure what’s up, but you need to stop letting her draw you in like she is with the others,” Shinsou said, uncovering Izuku’s eyes, but he still felt out of control of his body. “You’re way too pure to be looking at that kind of crap.”

 _Pure?_ Izuku wanted to shout but found himself unable to. He couldn’t do anything.

Then suddenly the invisible restraints disappeared. He looked around and saw that the woman and Korosensei were gone, supposedly to find ‘fresh air’. It appeared the other male classmates were coming out of their trance, shaking and holding their heads. Shinsou had returned to his phone, pointedly not looking at anyone.

“What was up with you guys? You were all totally enthralled with the chick. It was freaky!” Okano commented. Karasuma coughed sheepishly.

“Sorry about that. I should’ve warned you about that,” he said. “Ms. Jelavić’s quirk is called Honeypot Trap. She is able to put off an aroma at her control that puts any men in the surrounding area that smells it under a spell-like state in which they are completely entranced by her. It has no proven effects on women, however.”

“It must be crazy strong for Korosensei, then. He has the nose of a bloodhound,” Mimura observed.

Maehara snorted. “Well, that and he’s also obviously tit-crazy. The dude couldn’t stop staring at her boobs the whole time!”

“Hey, if it only targets men, then how come you were unaffected, Karasuma-sensei?” asked Yada, and a curious murmur erupted among the class. The spiky-haired man sighed.

“I don’t have a sense of smell,” he answered bluntly.

Izuku was honestly not surprised in the slightest.

-.-.-.-

For Quirk Training, Karasuma first asked if there were any volunteers to demonstrate their quirk. After a moment of silence, Okano finally raised her hand. Their teacher motioned for her to come up to the front.

“Um, well, my quirk is called Boneless, and it lets me do this.” She suddenly bent backward and pulled her head through her thighs until it was at her belly button, while her elbows bent past the point of extension. To finish the display, her knees folded in the opposite direction and she rolled backward until she was standing upright again. A tiny drop of blood dripped out of her nose.

Muramatsu threw up furballs. Izuku couldn’t help but write everything he just saw in his notebook.

While Hara instinctively cared for the coyote-boy, Karasuma handed Okano a tissue. “Does your nose always bleed after you use it?” he asked.

“Not always, I was kind of showing off there,” she answered, quickly wiping away the blood. “It’s mainly when I bend in an extremely odd way or use it non-stop. My organs get a little jumbled inside and they just tend not to agree with me.”

The man nodded and turned to the rest of the class. “Now, how would you say Okano’s quirk could help with assassination?”

Nagisa rose his hand first. “She could contort her body into unexpected places for a surprise attack.”

Karasuma nodded. “Correct. Anyone else?”

“She can act like a freaky demon-possessed girl and scare the crap out of him,” Kimura added, eliciting a laugh out of the class.

Izuku raised his hand anxiously. “She could use it to maneuver her body in an unexpected way after Korosensei dodges her initial knife attack.”

Karasuma arched his eyebrows. “Interesting observation, Midoriya. Would you mind elaborating?”

“W-Well, you taught us defined techniques for dodging and defending knife attacks. It probably goes to say that Korosensei has his own odd way of calculating and dodging attacks he expects to come. If Okano were to suddenly, say, bend her elbow the opposite direction immediately after her initial strike, it would likely throw him off.”

Karasuma nodded, looking very pleased. “Very insightful, Izuku. Good job. And good job to you too, Okano.” The two students glowed under the praise. “Now, who wants to go next?”

-.-.-.-

They did that for the remainder of the lesson, and Izuku felt all of his nerves about this new class melt away. Because while he may not have a quirk to show off, he was completely in his element. He and Nagisa would bounce off each other with ideas on the person’s quirk potential and their ways to apply it to assassination. He was practically on cloud nine.

 _Just wait until you’re the only one left to go, and you have to expose yourself as the quirkless loser you are, Deku,_ the little Bakugou in his head said.

Isogai volunteered next. His quirk was Merging, which let him combine two inanimate objects he was holding into one. He created a bayonet-like weapon by combining his knife and rifle together. However, he couldn’t unmerge the objects afterward, so he always has to be careful.

“Well, as you displayed, you can create new weapons. You could probably use it camouflage the current ones so they don’t seem so obvious,” Izuku commented, writing frantically in his notebook.

“Or create ones that are even more powerful,” added Nagisa.

Sugino went next. Izuku already knew what his quirk, Energizing, could do in theory, but it was amazing to see in practice. Especially with the new and improved pitching technique he had developed; Izuku could barely see the ball move at all.

“That was so cool, Sugino! Do you think you’ll be able to throw as fast as Korosensei can move?” Kurahashi asked enthusiastically. Sugino laughed sheepishly and looked to the recently dubbed ‘Data Duo’ for answers.

“In theory, it could be possible. It would take a lot of energy expenditure from you, though,” Izuku said.

Nagisa nodded. “You’d probably need assistance from an outside source to give you the energy force. Something really strong, like a chemical reaction that results in an explosion.”

The usually silent Okuda gasped suddenly but didn’t say anything, looking lost in her own thoughts. Karma let out a sharp laugh.

“Hey let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Data Dorks. We’re trying to help Sugino, not blow him up, remember?” he commented sarcastically.

“Alright, enough bantering. I just received a message from Ms. Jelavić. She and Korosensei are almost done getting tea in Vietnam,” Karasuma said. “We have time for one more volunteer. Who wants to finish us up?”

The class went silent after that. Izuku noticed that the three who had already gone had pretty amazing quirks; they had probably been booted down to E-class for different reasons. Their quirk hadn’t been part of their downfall.

He turned to Shinsou quizzingly. The boy had been oddly silent the entire time, staring firmly at his phone even when Izuku knew he wasn’t actually doing anything. The boy had no reason to be ashamed of his quirk. It was absolutely amazing! So…why was he?

“Oh, what the hell, I’ll go next if none of you wusses will,” Terasaka said, walking up to the front. “As you can see, I have a badass mutation quirk that gives me lion qualities. Besides the mane, tail, and claws, it also makes me stronger.” To emphasize, the boy pushed at a nearby tree and knocked it over. “So basically, if you try to mess with me, there’s gonna be consequences.”

Karasuma sighed. “Thank you, Terasaka. Now, how might Terasaka use his quirk to kill Korosensei? And how about we let someone other than the…Data Duo answer?”

Izuku awkwardly lowered his hand that had already been up in the air, chuckling quietly alongside his classmates.

“Well, he’s definitely going to have to be sneakier about it, with it being a mutation quirk and all. Korosensei probably already knows a lot already of what you can do,” Kanzaki observed.

“He could also use that to his advantage,” Kataoka added. “Like Nagisa’s notes say, Korosensei’s main weakness is arrogance. If he thinks he knows all there is to know about Terasaka, but instead he pulls out a surprise new ability — a secret weapon, so to speak — then maybe we could get him that way.”

“Yeah, but who’s to say I even have a ‘secret weapon’?” argued Terasaka, smirking haughtily. “It’s my quirk after all. I think I would know if I had a hidden ability.”

“Isn’t the point of calling it hidden to say it hasn’t been discovered yet?” Shinsou muttered irritably, absentmindedly scrolling through his photos. Terasaka snapped his sharp teeth at the boy threateningly, a vein almost popping out of his head.

“WHAT’D YOU SAY, TURNIP-HEAD?”

-.-.-.-

Not long after Ms. Jelavić and Korosensei came back, the honeypot tried to assassinate him.

She failed miserably.

The woman had been so arrogant that she apparently didn’t even pay attention to the briefings at all. When she lured the creature away to the activity shack, she and her three hired goons opened fire on Korosensei with lead bullets, which of course had no effect on him. Their teacher revealed that while her honeypot aroma was powerful, he quickly could tell something was wrong in his system and used his mucus to create nose plugs. Everything else was just an act to humor her and teach her that she better do her homework like all the other good students if she wants to succeed in the class.

Which led them to where they are now. Sitting in English class, doing absolutely nothing as the woman assassin tapped angrily at her tablet.

“Hmm? Something wrong, Ms. Yellow-Bitch?” Karma asked condescendingly, purposely butchering her name. The woman growled threateningly.

Isogai hesitantly raised his hand and asked if they could have Korosensei come in and teach instead. This only seemed to upset the pissed off woman even more, as she broke into a loud rant.

“Do you really think you’ll pass your entrance exams anyway? You’re just a bunch of E-class losers; it’s not like you’ll ever have a future like that,” she sneered. Izuku clenched his fists, tempted to stand up to her when all the sudden he felt his mind begin to cloud, and his desire to argue with the woman became a burning need to listen to her.

“How about I offer you male specimen a deal? Help me kill the octopus, and I’ll give you some of the reward money. Any of the ladies can have in too, so long as they _obey._ ”

Izuku could feel the urge to cooperate building inside of him, and he was about to hand over all his notes on Korosensei when an eraser sailed across the room, hitting the chalkboard right next to Ms. Jelavić’s head.

“Get out,” Shinsou said, his voice low and more threatening than Izuku had ever heard it. The honeypot blinked, looking completely flabbergasted.

“But — how the hell—" she sputtered, but never got to finish before all of their female classmates followed in suit, throwing paper and pencils and any other material they could use as ammunition at the lady. Izuku could feel the honeypot spell dissipate away with the assassin too distracted with dodging to activate her quirk. He wasted no time in joining in.

“You’re just a grumpy old bitch!” Yoshida cried.

“Go back home, big boobs!” Hazama shouted.

It was complete chaos, people throwing every small item in reach. Isogai even took two pencils he merged together earlier and a hair tie from Nagisa to merge into a slingshot. Laughing at the absurdity of it all, Izuku glanced back at his closest friend and saw the boy actually smiling for the first time that day. It made Izuku smile as well.

At least until he grabbed his box of flashcards and chucked them at the conceited woman, unleashing his inner Bakugou.

“DIE!”

-.-.-.-

“You know, after she apologized and everything, Ms. Jelavić doesn’t seem too bad,” Izuku commented as he and Shinsou made their way down the mountain like usual after school. “And her lessons seem like they’ll be very practical in application.”

Shinsou snorted, stretching his arms over his head. “If you’re planning on getting a foreign hottie in your bed anytime soon, sure. But yeah. Bitch-sensei seems to be not as bad as she originally made herself out to be. I think she’ll fit in well enough.”

“You shouldn’t call your teacher a bitch, even if she does act like one at times, you know. It’s not very nice.”

“Sometimes, Midoriya, you can be too nice.”

“Is that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?”

“Yes.”

-.-.-.-

So maybe he’ll always be a quirkless end-class loser. Maybe he’ll always be the one society was designed to step on. As he carefully practiced each knife stroke, or mimicked a defensive maneuver Karasuma displayed, or made a bullseye with his rifle, he couldn’t help but feel strong. That he could become something.

Maybe this wasn’t the rigorous U.A.-prepping education he anticipated, but hey. He’ll take his assassination academia over that any day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of Known Quirks:
> 
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, Chameleon skin
> 
> In a nutshell: Izuku and Shinsou are in E-3, everyone has quirks, they’re training to become assassins to kill Korosensei (the number-one villain), Nagisa and Izuku are quirk geeks called the Data Duo, Karma and Shinsou are evil devil buddies, Shinsou and Karasuma are not here for Bitch-sensei’s crap, they have to use their quirk to try and kill Korosensei before end-of-term exams, and no one knows Izuku is quirkless.


	2. To Help Those Around Us (Ep. 5-8)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so I totally forgot to mention last chapter that Kayano is not going to be in this story because she didn't fit in my plot, there's only room for one green-haired child, and, well...I didn't really like her character. Writing this story, I basically forgot she was even a character. If anyone is a huge Kayano fan, I'm sorry but it had to be done.
> 
> Thanks for the love and support! I hope you all continue to enjoy!

Despite popular opinion, Hitoshi was going to become a hero.

He just needed to survive middle school first.

He had chosen Kunugigaoka not only because its prestige would help him get into U.A., but also it was a fairly good distance away from home; this meant no one would know who he was, and he could spend his junior high days flying completely under the radar.

For the first two years, his plan seemed to work perfectly. He kept his grades decent enough to satisfy his teachers and kept his head low among his classmates. He never used his quirk unless during private evaluations, and he didn’t make any friends.

Things were going great.

But then Seo Tomoya happened.

Looking back, maybe it wasn’t a very good idea to use his quirk on one of the Five Virtuosos; especially one who was also the Student Assembly Chairman.

But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do it all over again if he had the chance.

Hitsohi had been staying after school one day to get a little extra studying in when he came across Seo openly harassing another girl, using his ‘brick’ quirk to create a legitimate brick wall with his body to corner her in. It was obvious the girl was uncomfortable and scared, but that didn’t seem to faze the creep at all. Hitoshi felt his natural hero instinct he had developed and nurtured all these years kick in, and he walked towards the duo calmly.

“It’s kind of embarrassing that one of the most praised people in the school has to trap a girl with a wall to get her to talk to him, don’t you think?” he stated plainly, scratching the back of his neck.

Seo turned his head sharply and sneered. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here? Schools over, get out!” he spat. Instantly afterward, the malice in his face vanished, and his expression matched the blank wall his body formed.

“No, I think you should be the one to get out, Seo. Now, leave the girl alone and go do your homework or something, okay?”

The very next day, he was called into the office. Seo was there, telling some elaborate story about how Shinsou attacked him for no reason and made him do whatever he wanted, including his homework. No matter how much the purple-haired boy tried to argue otherwise, he left the office with a notice to transfer to E-class that day, and a three day-suspension effective the following week.

-.-.-.-

When Yukimura-sensei asked him to introduce himself and state his dream, Hitoshi bluntly stated, “My name is Shinsou Hitoshi. I’m wrongfully being given a suspension starting next week, so our current time together will be brief. And I’m going to become a hero.”

He bowed and his classmates echoed the standard welcome phrase. A boy with a lion mane in the back muttered, “Good luck with that dream. No way you’re getting into some fancy hero academy when you have E-class on your transcripts.”

“Terasaka-kun! Be nice!” Yukimura-sensei scolded before apologizing for the boy’s behavior and directing Hitoshi to his seat.

Hitoshi honestly didn’t care that the boy didn’t think he couldn’t achieve U.A. because of E-class. It was better than being told it was because he was a villain.

-.-.-.-

When he got back to E-class, there was a little green shrubbery sitting in the desk in front of him.

The boy was obviously a constant nervous mess, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but feel bad for him. When he brainwashed the boy into calming down, he expected angry backlash or fear. Instead, the kid told him to get more sleep.

Midoriya Izuku was a mystery for sure, but he was also the best damn person Hitoshi had ever met.

-.-.-.-

“Shinsou? Could I ask you something?”

The purple-haired boy opened one eye and glanced at the boy sitting next to him. It was lunchtime, but Sugino and Nagisa had chosen to train instead, and Karma had quickly dipped to do who knows what.

“Hmm?” he hummed, readjusting his position against the tree. “What’s up, Jolly Green?”

“I was just, uh, wondering. Is your quirk perhaps mind-control?” the green haired boy asked nervously. When Hitoshi suddenly sat up straight, both eyes wide open, it only seemed to make the boy more uneasy. “I don’t mean to come off forward, and if this is some sort of taboo topic then I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer! I’ve just been really curious, and like you’ve used it on me a couple of times so I was just wondering what it entails exactly. I’ve also been wondering if it’s somehow connected to why Ms. Jelavić has no effect on you, which would be pretty cool if it was—”

“Midoriya.”

“Yes?”

Automatically, thin strings invisible to the rest of the world appeared on the boy the moment he responded. Hitoshi mentally reached out, grabbing the strings and taking control.

“Please calm down.”

And he did, like always. The boy stared blankly like everyone did when he brainwashed them. Once he was sure the boy was done panicking, he released, and color and emotion returned to the boy. Midoriya gazed at him expectantly.

“Sorry about that,” Hitoshi apologized meekly. “There really is no need to panic, though. Like you said, I have used my quirk on you before, so it’s only fair that you know what it is.”

Midoriya visibly relaxed. “Oh. Okay…” The boy’s hands twitched and Hitoshi smirked.

“You can put it in your notebook if you want.”

Midoriya laughed awkwardly but eagerly pulled out one of his famous notebooks. Hitoshi noted that this one was new, and titled differently. _Quirk Analysis to Stop Korosensei_ was scribbled on the front, along with the number one. The brainwasher smirked and waited until he was sure the boy was ready.

“Well, it’s formally called Brainwashing. It allows me to control the mind of anyone, they just have to verbally respond to me first,” Hitoshi explained.

Midoriya hummed, continuously writing. “So, I take it you can decide when you activate your quirk?” Hitoshi nodded. “Is there any way for the person to break free of your hold?”

The purple-haired boy paused. “Not that I currently know of, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was I guess.”

“Hmm,” the green-haired boy chewed on the end of his pencil. “It seems, compared to Ms. Jelavić’s Honeypot Trap, that your mind control is more like a slice while hers is like a shove. With hers, you feel urges to do what she wants, but yours is absolute. Maybe that’s why she has no effect on you — your mind is stronger because of your superior mind control quirk. Just like two people with strength based quirks, or speed. One is destined to be faster or stronger, so they would win in a fight. I wonder if this means this is standard among all mind control quirks…”

The boy muttered insistently, and Hitoshi for once let him, a wry smirk on his lips. In the past, everyone reacted out of fear to his quirk, calling him a monster, or a villain, or stopped talking to him altogether. Leave it to Midoriya Izuku to be fascinated by it.

-.-.-.-

Surprisingly, the first one to use their quirk to assassinate Korosensei wasn’t Sugino, Okano, Isogai, or Terasaka, who had been the volunteers in their first Quirk Training class the day before. It actually ended up being the ever-silent Okuda. The pigtailed girl walked right up to their teacher during chemistry holding three different vials and plainly asked him to drink the poisons she created.

“M-My quirk is called Chemical Breakdown. It lets me see things on an elemental level, though it’s kind of hard sometimes to tell apart the atoms just by looking at them. I made these poisons based on what I believe makes up the anti-sensei matter, as well as common poisons. W-W-Would you mind drinking them?”

To everyone’s surprise, Korosensei actually drank them; unsurprisingly, they had no real effect. They just changed his appearance, giving him horns or wings. Korosensei praised the girl, nonetheless.

“Excellent attempt, Okuda, though it seems your guesses were a little off. The delivery could have also been a little bit sneakier. Most people won’t drink something you say is poison. But that’s beside the point! I’m so proud of you for embracing your quirk and trying to kill me with it! Hopefully, this will inspire your classmates to do the same!” the tentacle man said, patting the girl on the head. “I can’t wait for all of you to try to kill me using your amazing quirks! Remember, I expect everyone to do it before finals!”

-.-.-.-

In all honesty, Hitoshi shouldn’t be too surprised when he ran into Seo again after the school-wide assembly. Fate was always annoying like that.

He and Midoriya were walking together, about to head back up the mountain when they were suddenly cornered by the big-nosed boy and his fellow Virtuosos. If Hitoshi had any sense of self-preservation, he might’ve been intimidated.

Instead, he smirked at the boy patronizingly. “What’s this, Seo? You’re so scared of me you had to bring all your lil’ buddies as backup?”

Seo sneered. “It would do you some good to learn your place, villainous-freak. You’re in E-class now. You might as well drop out and join a group of criminals while you still can.”

“You know, you still talk a big game for a guy who probably can’t even get a baby to look at you without crying.”

Koyama, a nasty looking boy with long hair and glasses, stepped forward menacingly, baring his crooked teeth. “You better back down, freak, or we’ll show you what we do to those who step out of line,” he spat. His long hair began to grow and move unnaturally, and Hitoshi realized it was actually made of snakes. The brainwasher was about to snark back when Midoriya, the clueless do-gooder he was, stepped forward.

“Hey, leave us alone! Just let us get back to our class, and then we’ll be out of your…hair…” he said, eyeing the snakes uncomfortably. Hitoshi put a hand on the green-haired boy's shoulder, willing him to step down. His heart actually stuttered when he noticed the strawberry blonde boy had stepped forward, his eyes gleaming ominously.

“And who might you be?” Asano Gakushu asked. “I don’t think I remember seeing you before…”

Midoriya took a step back, his eyes wide. Before Hitoshi could warn him to get away, Asano reached out a brushed his fingers against the smaller boy’s arm.

“Oh, yes, I know now,” Asano said, his eyes glowing an unnatural silver. “I actually remember my father talking about you one day. You’re Midoriya Izuku, the quirkless transfer that was immediately sent to E-class.”

Midoriya went frighteningly still as the Asano stared triumphantly at the E-class duo. Hitoshi felt his brain stutter for a second.

_Quirkless…?_

Then, with speed only achievable when training to kill Korosensei, Midoriya wretched his shoulder free from Hitoshi and took off, pushing through the group of bullies that were laughing cruelly.

“It’s sad, really. He truly was born to be a failure,” Asano commented. Hitoshi gritted his teeth.

“ _Shut up,_ ” he growled, glaring at the five bullies. Their leader glanced back apathetically.

“You should know better than to use your quirk on us, Shinsou. I doubt the administration is going to be so forgiving for a second incident,” he mocked, and the Virtuosos laughed alongside him. They went quiet, however, when they notice the purple-haired boy was smiling back.

“That’s funny. It really is,” he said, laughing humorlessly. “Because I don’t need my quirk to make you _submit._ ”

Sending them one last smirk, he pushed through the speechless bullies and made his way after his friend.

-.-.-.-

He found Midoriya in a tree. The little piece of shrubbery was probably trying to blend in with the leaves.

Hitoshi climbed up and wordlessly took a seat on the branch next to the smaller boy. They didn’t say anything for a while. Hitoshi had pulled out his phone and messed around with it while Midoriya gazed at the sky, silently brooding. For once, the brainwasher missed his friend’s mumbling.

“I wasn’t trying to lie to you,” Midoriya said suddenly. Hitoshi stopped scrolling and glanced up. The boy had now resorted to staring at the ground, a light blush on his cheeks. “I wasn’t trying to lie to anyone, really. It’s just, well…no one asked and I thought maybe I could pretend to fit in for once. I didn’t have to be the pitied quirkless boy everyone treated like glass, or like I had some disease.”

Hitoshi said nothing, permitting his friend to let it all out. Midoriya wiped away his tears as they started to form.

“Who was I kidding, though? It’s not something I could ever really keep a secret. You were bound to find out; if not by that jerk, then during Quirk Training. I should just accept it by now. I’m never going to be anything but a quirkless loser. My dream of becoming a hero is a joke.”

The brainwasher sighed. “So, what? You’re in E-class, buddy. We’re all a bunch of losers. You really think being quirkless will make anyone think any less of you?” he stated. Midoriya turned to him slowly, his eyes wide. “I mean, everyone knows you’re one of the best analysts in the whole class, quirk or no quirk. If anyone is going to be able to devise a plan to take Korosensei out, it’ll be you and Nagisa.”

The smaller boy sniffled, tears streaming freely, and Hitoshi felt his gaze soften. “You’re more than just quirkless to us, Midoriya. And you’re going to become a hero. You and me, we’re going to prove them all wrong, go to U.A. together, and become the greatest heroes all time.”

“Y-You really think so?”

Hitoshi scoffed. “I know so, crybaby. And if anyone tries to give you crap, I’ll make them run laps around the school, barking like a dog.”

The green-haired boy laughed shakily, wiping his tears away. “Thanks, Shinsou.”

“No problem, Jolly Green,” he replied, throwing an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Now, can we get down from here? I’m not really the biggest fan of heights.”

-.-.-.-

Midoriya chose to not immediately tell his classmates about his quirklessness, and Hitoshi respected the boy’s decision. After being outed to his closest friend by Asano with his omniscience-based quirk, it was understandable that he wanted to tell his classmates one-hundred percent on his own terms.

With Korosensei’s threat of leaving if they all didn’t place in the top fifty on the midterms hanging in the air, Karasuma was understandably high strung during their next Quirk Training. Instead of having people volunteer to present their quirks, he wanted them to come up with a class-wide assassination attempt, strategically planned where eight people use their quirk in surprise manners while the others trick Korosensei into thinking it’s a normal class effort attempt.

“It’s not confirmed whether he will hold true to his word or not, but we must be prepared in case this is the last week we have to kill him. I want this to be the best plan we have ever come up with — no holding back,” Karasuma explained before sending them off to start strategizing.

“Alright, let’s do this, guys,” Isogai said, kneeling over a large sketch pad they had set out to brainstorm. “Data Duo, do you have any ideas off the top of your heads?”

Midoriya and Nagisa glanced uneasily at each other. “Well, it is kind of hard considering we only know a handful of everyone’s quirks,” the blue-haired boy said. “Does anyone have a quirk they feel could be super useful they would like to share?”

Everyone glanced around uncomfortably before Kimura finally raised his hand. “My quirk is called Sticky Feet. Basically, my feet have a natural gravity adhesion so it’s practically impossible for me to trip, and I can even run on vertical surfaces for a few seconds. I could attack Korosensei from different angles this way.”

Nagisa nodded. “Anyone else?”

Hitoshi could feel Midoriya’s eyes burning into his skin, but he kept his face stoic. He knew his quirk could be incredibly useful, but it also ran the risk of becoming useless once the person figured it out. He likely would only have one real chance with Korosensei, and there was no way he was going to mess it up. His attempt had to be perfect and would take a lot more preparation than this.

“Well, my quirk, Snapshot, allows me to freeze the motion of anyone in a 30-meter radius for one second,” Okajima said. His classmates couldn’t help but gape.

“AND YOU HAVEN’T USED IT YET?” they shouted incredulously.

Fuwa shook her head wildly. “Okay, back up. You’re saying you have the ability to keep Korosensei from _moving_ , and you didn’t feel the need to share this with us? What the hell is wrong with you?”

The boy held his hands up submissively as his irritated assassin classmates slowly began to close in. “Hey, it’s only for one second. And besides, all of you would be frozen too. I’d have to be the one to stab him, and I’m not exactly the fastest person in the world.”

“Why not shoot him then? A bullet would move more than fast enough,” commented Hayami. Okajima shook his head sorrowfully.

“Doesn’t work that way. The moment the bullet leaves the chamber, and I’m technically no longer touching it, then it freezes like everything else. I also have to be careful how much I use it because it makes me extremely tired very quickly.”

“I bet you would be able to make it stronger though,” Midoriya said encouragingly. “I’ve heard that sometimes a quirk can be just like a muscle, and you just need to exercise it to make it strong. Now, it’s not always guaranteed your limitations will change much, but for you even adding half a second could be the difference between failure and success.”

Okajima brightened under the praise, and Maehara even gave the boy an encouraging pat on the back. Nagisa smiled lightly.

“Well, adding in the four from last class, and you two, we’re still in need of two more volunteers. Anyone else?”

“Hey, I didn’t say nothing about helping you posers out,” Terasaka suddenly snapped. Isogai frowned, exacerbated.

“Now is not the time, Terasaka. This might be our last chance, and we’re going to need all the manpower we can get,” he scolded.

The lion-boy scoffed. “Then find it in someone else. It’s not my fault you losers are too weak to do it on your own. My gang and I are going to take the octopus out on our own, and that’s final. You guys can figure this out without us.”

The boy stomped away, his three friends trailing after him wordlessly. Karma sighed dramatically.

“Well, that’s one way to lift everyone’s spirits,” the boy commented unhelpfully. Hitoshi elbowed his fiery-haired friend in the ribs halfheartedly.

“Hey, Karma, what about your quirk? I bet it’s gotta be pretty powerful,” Sugaya said. Much of the class murmured in agreement.

“Yeah. I’m kinda surprised you haven’t used it yet,” Yada added. Karma tilted his head to the side, looking annoyingly innocent.

“Hmm? What do you mean? I’ve been using it since the beginning,” the boy drawled, earning him multiple shouts of disbelief. Hitoshi arched an eyebrow skeptically. Even Karma’s best friend Nagisa looked shocked.

“What are you talking about, Karma? You haven’t done anything different from how you normally are,” the blue-haired boy argued. The red-head obviously faked his surprise.

“Oh? You mean you haven’t noticed?” he said. “What about you, Midoriya? Don’t tell me even you missed my quirk too.”

“U-Um,” the green-haired boy stuttered, obviously shocked to be suddenly put on the spot. Hitoshi could practically see the gears spinning in the boy’s head. “Well, um, you always have been the only one to come close to competing with Korosensei’s intelligence, and if you’ve been using it since the beginning without anyone visibly noticing it, then it’s probably some mind-enhancing quirk. Not like the kind that lets you know anything and everything instantly, but more like one that lets you figure stuff out really quickly? It would explain how you’re so good at exploiting people’s weaknesses, and how you’re able to understand new material almost instantly. My best guess would be some kind of innate problem-solving quirk?”

Midoriya practical squeaked the last part, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but stare. Was this little piece of shrubbery positive he was quirkless? Because if he really was naturally that analytical, then that was just plain freaky.

Karma smirked triumphantly. “You almost hit the nail right on the head. Good job, Midoriya,” he complimented almost sincerely. “It’s formally called Innate Capability, and it allows for me to be able to instantly understand any complex system I see, even if I have no background knowledge or past experience with it.”

Silence.

“That wasn’t as cool as I thought it was going to be,” Hitoshi stated bluntly. Karma frowned, though it was obvious the devilish boy didn’t actually care.

“Aw, don’t hate on mental quirks, Shinsou. You should hold yourself to a higher esteem, anyway,” he said, tilting his head innocently, though his eyes were challenging and mischievous. Hitoshi tensed under those calculating eyes, realizing what his friend was alluding to. _What a creepy know-it-all…_

“Still kind of terrifying and very fitting, nonetheless,” Kataoka added, pointedly ignoring the boys’ antics. “We can use Karma as the brain of the operation, I guess, but we still need two more people.”

“Well, I can mimic animal sounds, and sometimes communicate with them, though my animal language skills are very poor. I’m sure I could get a group of woodland creatures to attack Korosensei with us,” Kurahashi offered. The female representative nodded.

“Okay. One more?”

Surprisingly, Nagisa raised his hand. “I’m not sure how much help I can be at assassination yet, but my quirk should be able to catch Korosensei off guard.”

Isogai quirked an eyebrow. “How so, Nagisa?”

“My quirk is called Misdirection. It’s basically just made me easily forgettable my entire life. I, um…I’m still not entirely confident in how it functions, but it seems I can project an aura so those in the surrounding area find me less noticeable.”

Midoriya nodded. “Stealth is the biggest factor for assassination. Korosensei’s super-enhanced senses make it hard for people to sneak up on him, but if you can get close enough to enact your misdirection without him noticing, you could sneak up on him and attack. While he’ll probably be fast enough to react and get away, it’ll definitely throw him off.”

“We should immediately follow with the Snapshot quirk. Even if it fails, having two shocking attacks like that will throw him off for the rest of the assassination attempt,” Kimura added.

And just like that, they all started putting their heads together to plan the perfect assassination attempt on their teacher.

-.-.-.-

It failed miserably, but Korosensei was proud nonetheless.

“Wonderful attempt students! You had me worried there for a moment. Well, one whole second, to be exact,” he said, patting an exhausted Okajima on the head. “I couldn’t help but notice, however, that except for Nagisa and Karma, your classmates with the flashiest or most offensive quirks were the only ones to try. I know the world of heroes has created an ideal that the best combat quirks need to be offensive or flashy, but assassination is a whole other ballpark.

“You see, the best assassins are sneaky. They don’t have blatantly obvious quirks because those will likely give them away too soon. That’s why, if you noticed, that Nagisa was the closest to being successful thanks to his invisibility-type quirk. You need to start understanding the strength in the subtle things if you ever want to be able to kill me.”

Hitsohi exchanged a look with Midoriya.

_Subtle things, huh?_

-.-.-.-

The midterm tests, despite all of Korosensei’s efforts to review them, were blatantly rigged, and barely anyone placed anywhere near the top fifty. Hitoshi barely made it out with rank 72 with 361 points. Midoriya, despite being a freaking genius, was still only 31.

They were all nervous that Korosensei was going to keep true to his word, but then Karma came through for them, shying a few points away from a perfect score.

“So they tried to throw a few stupid questions at us. I used my quirk to my advantage, just like you said, and was able to figure them out in seconds,” he drawled. “Even if we didn’t all make it to the top fifty, what does it matter? You taught me all that I needed to know, and that’s all that really matters in my opinion. Don’t use this as an excuse to run away like the big scaredy-cat you are. It’s unflattering, really.”

Hitoshi, understanding where Karma was going, smirked haughtily and scratched the back of his neck. “If you’re really that scared we’ll kill you, then just say so, teach.”

A vein bulged on their teacher’s head, but by then the rest of the class had picked up on the teasing and was mocking their sensei playfully. And just like that, the dumb test results no longer mattered. No one was going anywhere because, in the end, there was really no better place to be than E-class.

-.-.-.-

“Do you think if you brainwashed Korosensei and told him to die or kill himself that it would work?” Midoriya asked out-of-the-blue one day. Hitoshi almost choked on his coffee.

“Well, um,” he mumbled, clearing his throat. “I’ve actually been wondering about this a lot. Since he’s arrived, actually. It’s just that I’ve obviously never used my quirk like that before, and I’m worried if I try and it fails then I’ll miss my one chance to kill him.”

The green haired boy nodded. “Makes sense. It’d be pretty cool if it did work, though...”

Yeah. It would, wouldn’t it?

-.-.-.-

Following midterms, the whole school was scheduled on a class trip to Musutafu, home of amazing heroes like All-Might and Endeavor, and where U.A. high school was located. He and Midoriya were a little stoked to go, to say the least

Though of course, in typical E-class fashion, it was being turned into a sightseeing assassination attempt.

Karasuma had given them instructions to lure Korosensei to specific sights when touring to where professional sharpshooters will be in range. They hoped the distractions of the city would give them an edge. He also encouraged them to use their quirks to keep Korosensei cautious of the students instead of other possible threats.

“Wait,” Hitoshi interrupted. “Isn’t it illegal to use your quirk in public? Because I don’t know about you guys, but this city is literally crawling with heroes, and the Musutafu police holding cell wasn’t exactly a sight I was looking forward to seeing.”

Karasuma pursed his lips but pulled out a stack of cards. “That’s already been taken care of,” he said, holding them up. They appeared to be some kind of ID, with everyone’s name and face. “Technically, you are all employed freelancing agents for the government, which means you are entitled to government quirk immunity. This allows you to use your quirks in public if so needed. I’ve held onto them out of fear what…some of you would do with them.”

He looked pointedly at Karma and the delinquent group, who all just grinned wickedly.

“What? I thought we proved my quirk was relatively harmless,” Karma defended sarcastically. Nagisa stared at his best friend blankly.

“Any quirk would be dangerous so long as it’s you with it, Karma.”

-.-.-.-

They broke into groups of six or seven. Their group consisted of himself, Midoriya, Nagisa, Sugino, Karma, Okuda, and a girl Sugino enlisted because he obviously had a crush on her, Kanzaki Yukiko. Hitoshi hadn’t really interacted with her, but she seemed very sweet and helpful, if not a little shy. She was also an excellent planner and took charge in organizing their entire trip into a notebook so they wouldn’t have to lug around the dictionary-sized tour guides Korosensei made them. She was even able to very calmly deal with an overexcited Midoriya who wanted to visit every single site where All-Might took out a villain.

“Hey, Midoriya, weren’t you originally from Musutafu before you transferred here?” asked Nagisa when they were making a list of places to visit. “Have you not seen all of this already?”

The green-haired boy scratched his head sheepishly. “No, not really. My mom and I kind of lived on the poorer outskirts of the city, not really all that close to the action. I was occasionally able to see some rookie heroes and sidekicks that got booted to the less exciting jobs, but never anyone of significance. My mom was also always so busy with work that there was never any time to go sightseeing in our own city. I guess it is kind of sad to think I lived so close to my dream school almost my whole life and never saw it,” he said. Hitoshi nodded sympathetically.

“But it’s okay!” the boy said, perking up considerably. “Because now I get to do it all with some of my best friends! Now, make sure you add the place where All-Might defeated Toxic Chainsaw!”

-.-.-.-

He and Midoriya were just preparing to enter the bullet train when A-class passed them, getting to ride first class VIP. He could feel the elite class collectively sneering at them, and the pair tried to push their way through so they could rejoin the rest of E-class on coach when a literal brick wall formed in front of them.

“Oh, looky here. It’s Villain and Quirkless, the fearful duo of 3-E,” snickered Koyama.

“Where do you two think you’re going in such a hurry? You wouldn’t possibly be running away, hmm?” Seo jeered as the five virtuosos appeared and loomed over them. Midoriya shrunk back slightly, but Hitoshi refused to be bothered, staring blankly.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be the smartest people in the school? Where do you thinking we’re headed?” he mocked. “Now please move so we can get on the train.”

Not waiting for a response, he grabbed Midoriya’s wrist and pushed his way past the bullies, pointedly making an effort not to touch Asano. Midoriya wasn’t so lucky, as the strawberry blond purposely jutted out his shoulder to harshly bump into the smaller boy. He probably would’ve fallen flat on his face if Hitoshi wasn’t already holding on to him.

The Machiavellian boy peered down at Midoriya. “You’ve got to be joking. You actually believe someone like you could become a hero?”

The other virtuosos burst out laughing, saying that a quirkless loser would be lucky to even meet a hero. Before much worse could be said, Hitoshi dragged his friend away as swiftly as possible, not stopping until their class was in view. It wasn’t enough, though; the damage had clearly already been done as tears began to form in Midoriya’s eyes. The purple-haired boy scowled and led the other boy on the train into a lone compartment, a little bit away from where the rest of the class was sitting.

“Those better be tears of joy because of how ecstatic you are to go visit U.A.,” Hitoshi stated. The green-haired boy snorted but didn’t respond. The brainwasher sighed.

“C’mon Jolly Green, we already established this. You and I are going to become heroes together and prove everyone wrong, remember? Hell, we’re going to the city of heroes! You can’t be all mopey and depressed when touring the town where we’ll soon be famous in.”

That at least got his friend to smile. Hitoshi smiled back and ruffled his hair.

“That’s the spirit,” he said. “Just remember, you’re training to become an ass-kicking assassin. If you focus hard and really throw yourself into training, I bet not even All-Might could touch you. The dude couldn’t even stop the villain we’re tasked with killing, so you already one-up him that way.”

Midoriya snickered and pushed at him lightly. “You need to focus on combat training too then, Shinsou. I mean, you said it yourself; someone figures out how your quirk works, and you’re as useless as me.”

“You little— ” Hitoshi growled, the vein on his forehead pulsing. “Fine, you little brat. I’ll train with you, and whoever is the best fighter by the end of the year gets to design the other’s hero costume.”

“Oh, you’re so on,” Midoriya replied, smirking as they shook hands to finalize their bet. The sound of a nose being blown broke the competitive tension immediately, however.

“So sweet! Two of my students making bets on who will become the superior assassin and later hero. I’m so proud!” Korosensei, peering in through their compartment window as the octopus held on to the speeding train from the outside. The two friends blinked slowly.

“WHAT THE HELL, KOROSENSEI?”

-.-.-.-

They arrived at Musutafu without any more major incidents, though Kanzaki did lose her notebook at some point, which devastated the girl terribly. They had to travel going off memory of what they planned, making it a real blessing they had Karma and Midoriya in their group.

As they walked around, discussing the best way to incorporate the tourist attractions into killing Korosensei, Sugino sighed loudly.

“Not that an assassination vacation isn’t fun and all, but I was kind of hoping to use this whole trip to get away from the shooting and stabbing,” he commented. “I mean, what does Musutafu have to do with assassination anyways?”

“Well,” Nagisa answered, “I guess it doesn’t have to do much with assassination, but it’s one of the most famous hero-villain cities in the world. And if you think about it, taking out Korosensei is technically taking out the world’s number one villain.”

Sugino blinked. “Huh. I guess you’re right.”

After visiting a few more sites, they decided to put their assassination plan in action. Midoriya led them to a back alley in the outskirts of the city, completely secluded and perfect for assassination.

“This isn’t all that far from where my old apartment was,” the green-haired boy explained. “That’s the only reason I know about it.”

They began to plan out where they would hide and attack when they heard footsteps approaching.

“What the hell? Deku?” a poofy blond-haired boy asked. He too was wearing a middle school uniform, likely local, and was staring murderously at Midoriya.

“What the crap are you doing here, Deku? I thought you finally moved away for good,” the boy spat. Hitoshi realized this must have been one of Midoriya’s old classmates, and judging by how badly the small boy was shaking, they didn’t seem to particularly get along.

“O-Oh, hey Kacchan. It’s, um, g-good to see you again,” the quirkless boy stuttered. Poofy bared his teeth and practically snarled. Hitoshi stepped in front of his friend protectively.

“We’re just here on a school trip. Who the hell are you?” he said. Poofy zeroed in on him and looked as unimpressed as Hitoshi felt. At least the feeling was mutual.

“What are you, some shitty eggplant guardian angel?” the blond spat, skipping over the question. “Just get out of the fucking way, this doesn’t concern you.”

That just made everyone else in their group even more defensive as they all moved protectively around the green-haired boy.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but we really don’t have time to deal with playground bullies,” Karma stated bluntly. “It’s best you just get out of here before we make you regret it.”

Poofy looked infuriated at the threat. “You think I’m fucking scared of you? You’re all just a bunch of rich bitches, I could take you on any day.”

Karma scoffed. “Well I did warn you,” he hummed, lashing out suddenly and smacking Poofy in the face with the palm of his hand, sending the other boy to the floor. The blond was able to react surprisingly quickly for a street rat, rolling backward and onto his feet. He balled his fists at the conniving redhead.

“Try that again, bastard, I dare you!” he yelled. Karma smirked, happy to oblige.

“KARMA, DON’T!” Okuda and Midoriya shouted at the exact same time, but it was too late. Karma approached the boy again, kicking his leg out to attack when an explosion went off seemingly out of nowhere. The redhead flew backward, landing on the ground hard. Nagisa and Kanzaki ran to the boy’s side to check on him and help him to his feet.

“I thought I noticed something odd about his chemical makeup,” Okuda said. “I figured I was just seeing things wrong, but it looks like his sweat on his palms is made up of nitroglycerin!”

Midoriya nodded. “It’s his quirk. It lets him create explosions, and it’s extremely dangerous!”

“Please,” Karma scoffed as he wiped away the blood from his chin. “Nothing is more dangerous than us.”

Hitoshi blinked, unsure what was going through the boy’s devilish mind. Suddenly he tossed a balled-up piece of paper at Sugino.

“Make bullets, energy boy!” he said. Sugino caught it cautiously before grinning when he realized what Karma meant.

“Is that a fucking piece of paper? What kind of weapon—” Poofy didn’t get to finish his sentence before the paper ball hit him in the stomach at lightning speed, knocking him back into a trash can. The boy let off another explosion, making trash fly everywhere.

“Kacchan! Please, stop!” Midoriya cried, running up to the boy and grabbing his arm to keep him from punching Sugino. Poofy growled and knocked the green-haired boy to the floor.

“Piss off, Deku!” he shouted, letting off another explosion. Midoriya cried out and somersaulted away, his uniform fringed and his arm cut and bleeding. Hitoshi sprinted to his side, steadying the injured boy. He looked dazed and battered, but nothing too concerning. Hitoshi still couldn’t help but growl as he turned to the blond murderously.

“You’re gonna pay for that, Poofy,” he said darkly. The boy let off another small explosion and bared his teeth threateningly.

“What’d you say, Eggpla-” the boy started but never got to finish. Hitoshi reached out for the imaginary strings the moment they appeared. He gave them an experimental mental pull to make sure he really had the boy completely under control.

“My, my, my. What ruckus,” a foreign voice drawled before Hitoshi could give any order. He spun around and found a large green slime man at the end of the alley. Kanzaki was suspended in the air and being pulled into the slime monster’s body. “You should really be cognizant of your friends when you’re fighting. You never know where the enemy may come from.”

Hitoshi felt his control of the boy loosen and Poofy easily pulled away. Thankfully, he was more preoccupied with the new threat and didn’t try to continue their fight.

“Kanzaki!” Okuda cried. Sugino frantically threw a nearby rock, and it sped like a bullet and embedded itself in the villain; however, the slime monster didn’t even seem fazed in the slightest.

“What the—” Hitoshi muttered, but then was suddenly tacked to the ground by Midoriya. He looked up and saw that the sludge villain had shot at his and Poofy’s direction, and he was now standing directly above them. The blond boy stumbled back and instinctively let off an explosion, but not even that had any effect. It did make the villain zero in on him, his nasty large eye staring at the boy hungrily.

“When I snatched the planner off the girl on the train, hoping to trap her alone, I never expected following her would lead to such a jackpot of quirks,” he hummed. “I think I’ll take you instead.”

In one swift movement, the villain released Kanzaki and swallowed Poofy up, trapping the boy and squeezing into his body instead. Okuda and Nagisa raced to Kanzaki’s side, helping her stand up as she hacked and struggled to breathe again.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here!” Sugino said, taking off for the alley exit. The others began to follow, Nagisa and Okuda each supporting Kanzaki and helping her walk. Hitoshi grabbed Midoriya’s arm and pulled encouragingly, trying to get him to stop staring at Poofy and the villain.

“We gotta go, Midoriya!” he said, but the boy wouldn’t budge. He turned his head slowly, his eyes watering.

“W-We can’t just let him die, Shinsou! We’ve got to help him!” he cried. Poofy let out a string of explosions as he tried to break free and Hitoshi flinched. Was this not the same jerk that had Midoriya scared shitless? Why would he want to risk his life to save him?

He thought that last bit over a bit more and realized, _oh yeah. This is Midoriya. That’s why._

He also knew the boy was correct, and that they couldn’t just let Poofy die, but that didn’t make Hitoshi any less irritated. He sighed and pulled out his anti-sensei gun.

“It’s really annoying when your right. Just thought you should know,” he said sarcastically, earning him the shaky smile he was going for. Rolling his eyes, the brainwasher pointed his gun and fired at the sludge villain. It unsurprisingly didn’t do any damage, but it did get the monster’s attention. He lashed out, sending a mixture of sludge and fire at the duo, which they expertly dodged.

“What are you guys doing? We have to go!” Okuda shouted as Midoriya took a stab at the villain while he was focused on Hitoshi. The green-haired boy flipped backward to avoid the retaliation and Hitoshi couldn’t help but pause. When did Jolly Green learn to do that?

“We’re being heroes!” Midoriya answered determinedly, making the rest of their group stop running. Karma snorted, pulling out his own knife.

“Well, we can’t let you have all the fun then,” he said, charging at the sludge villain.

Sugino joined in, throwing various objects at top speeds. They were mainly just trying to act as distractions to keep the villain disoriented until they came up with a plan to stop him, but they were losing energy quickly. Sugino’s throws were getting slower and slower, reverting to normal human pitching speed. Hitoshi was starting to regret all the times he gave half-effort during cardio.

“We could really use a plan right now, Blue’s Clues,” Hitoshi shouted back at Nagisa, who was hiding behind a trash can with the girls as they thumbed through Korosensei’s emergency trip guide.

“We’re trying! Korosensei made this thing way too thorough! Who needs to know ‘how to cheer themselves up after realizing a lot of Midnight’s merchandise is only available for purchase by those 18 and up’?” Nagisa shouted back.

Hitoshi wasn’t paying enough attention to the fight and got blown back by an explosion. “Please just hurry!” he yelped, struggling to stand up again.

“Wait, I got it! ‘What to do when you or a nearby civilian get attacked by a dangerous villain in a secluded part of Musutafu!’ That’s eerily exact,” the boy commented. Hitoshi grunted as he ducked so Karma could propel himself in the air off his back and fire his gun midair.

“That’s great, Nagisa! Could you please read it?” Midoriya pleaded as he rolled out of the way of the flames.

“Step One: Blow this custom-created Koro-Whistle,” Nagisa said, pulling out a tiny wooden whistle. He passed it to Okuda who tried to blow in it, but no sound came out.

“Uh guys, I think it’s broken!” she cried.

“Step Two: Notify the authorities in the flashiest way possible,” the blue-haired boy read. Seconds later, the largest explosion yet went off, throwing everyone backward.

Hitoshi groaned. “I think that was pretty damn flashy!”

Kanzaki stood up shakily and ran to her bag. “Just to be safe,” she said, and pulled out — was that a video game?

“What the heck, Kanzaki? Now is not the time!” Sugino shouted, but the girl ignored him. She turned the game on and then covered the screen with her palm. The entire device began to glow, and the light just kept on growing until a life-sized All-Might was formed, floating high above the rooftops.

“All-Might?” Midoriya squeaked excitedly right before a glob of sludge hit him in the face.

“Not really. It’s my quirk,” Kanzaki explained. “It’s called Gamer Zone. It lets me materialize video game characters from any game I touch into the real world. Unfortunately, they are just holograms and can’t actually do any damage, but it can be pretty eye-catching at times!”

Oh, boy was it. If the sight of All-Might above an explosion didn’t bring a crowd of people, nothing would.

“Uh, guys? I think something’s up with the explosive dude,” Sugino said tentatively. Hitoshi looked and saw that Poofy appeared to be convulsing, and he realized they were about to watch the boy suffocate to death.

“KACCHAN!” Midoriya screeched, running widely at the villain.

“Jolly Green!” Hitoshi shouted, while at the same time Karma said, “Midoriya! Go for the eyes!”

Midoriya, seemingly having lost all his weapons after getting tossed around so much, threw the last thing he had — his book bag. The thing flew widely, opening midair and letting the items inside go AWOL. The giant tour book Korosensei made them shot forward and struck true, nailing the sludge villain in the eye.

Those stupid books were turning out to be surprisingly useful. Hitoshi made a mental note to thank Korosensei later — assuming they all made it out alive, of course.

The monster screeched in pain, and it was enough of a distraction for Midoriya to reach out at and pull at Poofy, freeing his head so he could breathe.

“Deku — what the hell?” the blond boy gasped.

“I’ve got him! Someone hit the monster again!” yelled Midoriya. Karma didn’t hesitate, firing directly at the villain’s eyes. The monster cried out again and Poofy inched free just a little bit more.

“It’s not strong enough! We need to hit him harder!” Nagisa observed. “Sugino, do you think you can do it?”

The black-haired boy looked uncertain but pulled a baseball out of his bag nonetheless. He wounded up, building up potential energy in his body, and chucked the energized ball at the villain’s eye. It freed Poofy’s arm completely, but the rest of his body was still stuck.

“Damnit! I used up too much energy earlier!” Sugino apologized.

“Nagisa, what’s step three?” Okuda questioned desperately.

The boy looked up from the book, blatantly distraught. “Step Three: Don’t die!”

“What kind of advice is that?!” Midoriya screeched, tears falling like a waterfall. The green-haired boy had now resorted to uselessly slamming his fists against the sludge villain.

Just when Hitoshi was sure they were screwed, a large yellow blur shot by, slamming into the sludge villain. There was a large explosion of muddy sludge and fire, and when the dust cleared, Korosensei was standing there triumphantly. In one tentacle, he held a gasping Poofy, and in the other was the sludge villain stuffed into an empty soda bottle.

“Never fear! Koro-Might is here!” he said, morphing his head to mimic the famous hero’s iconic bunny ears and features. The students stared blankly.

“Please never do that again,” Hitoshi stated.

Their teacher deflated visibly. “You guys are no fun,” he grumbled. “But nonetheless, excellent job handling the villain attack! I couldn’t help but notice you followed my manual to a T. The custom whistle blows at a frequency only my ears are capable of hearing, and that All-Might hologram was very realistic, Kanzaki. Of course, not as convincing as my super cool All-Might disguise!” He turned back into the caricature of the famous hero, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but fire his gun at the teacher.

Korosensei pouted and whined. “Party pooper!”

Before the bantering could continue, Poofy came to, shaking his head and staring blearily at the octopus hold him up.

“Wha — What’s going on? Who the fuck are you?” the boy shouted, trying to scramble out of the creature’s grasp. Korosensei sweatdropped.

“Uh, what do you mean? I’m All-Might, clearly!” the octopus said in a pitiful impersonation of the hero’s voice. Poofy growled and let off an explosion, making Korosensei drop him.

“Like hell you are, you tentacle freak!” he spat, backing up against a wall. “You’re the dude that blew up the fucking moon, aren’t you? And you bastards are what — poor excuses for villain extras? What the fuck, Deku?” He glared at them all accusingly. Hitoshi and everyone else visibly sweatdropped.

“So much for a state-protected secret,” Nagisa mumbled. Karma scoffed and stepped forward.

“Whether we are or we aren’t doesn’t matter. It’s keeping you quiet that does,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Luckily for you, I happen to be very experienced at keeping witnesses silent.”

Poofy bared his teeth, looking ready to fight again when the sound of police sirens approaching made everyone freeze.

“Crap!” Sugino said. “We’ve gotta get out of here, Korosensei!”

“We can’t just leave Poofy, though! He’ll tell the cops and then we’re screwed!” Hitoshi argued.

“Oh, I’ve got it!” the octopus said before disappearing and reappearing with a disgruntled Maehara. “Maehara here can help us out with this! Now, go make him stop thinking what he’s thinking!”

The ginger boy gave his teacher a weird look but wordlessly obeyed, walking right up to Poofy and staring him right in the eye. The explosive boy’s eyes suddenly glazed over and he blinked, looking blatantly confused.

“Huh? Where am I? Who are you?” he asked.

Before he could notice the rest of the commotion around him, Karma ruthlessly punched the boy in the face, knocking him out cold.

“Karma!” Midoriya and Nagisa cried. The red devil looked up, feigning innocence.

“What? We couldn’t let him realize what had happened. It would completely defeat the purpose of having Maehara erase his memory.”

“Can you really wipe people’s brains, Maehara-kun?” Kanzaki asked. Hitoshi perked up, very intrigued.

“Not entirely,” the boy answered. “I can just make them forget their immediate thoughts when I look them in the eye. I can’t really go that deep. It’s called Thought Blocking.”

Hitoshi snorted at the almost inappropriate name. Even Midoriya was a little red. “That’s a very ironic name for someone like you…” the green-haired boy mumbled.

Korosensei nodded. “He tried to use it on me to make me disoriented so he could kill me. Almost worked too. And by almost, I mean not even close, but a terrific effort!”

As they all sighed exasperatedly, the sirens started getting louder, making everyone flinch. “We should really get out of here before it’s too late,” Nagisa encouraged, and everyone nodded, not needing to be told twice.

They ran out of the alley, careful to avoid any police cars as they made their escape. Before they left, they made sure to place Poofy unsuspiciously in the alley with the bottle next to him and a forged note from All-Might, claiming he saved the day but was very busy and didn’t have time to stick around.

All in all, it was a pretty average day for this class of assassins-in-training.

-.-.-.-

The rest of the trip went as expected. That is to say, the sniper attempts failed miserably, there were no more childhood bullies from Midoriya’s past (“His name is Bakugou Katsuki,” the green-haired boy had explained later when it was just the two of them. “We were best friends when we were little, but it all changed when it was discovered I was quirkless.”), or surprise villain attacks. For the remainder of the trip, they actually got to take the vacation they very much needed.

Hitoshi reclined in his seat in the lounge, content to just relax for the next few hours. Next to him, the rest of his group (sans Karma, who had since disappeared, probably do some sort of devilish mischief) had formed a circle around Kanzaki as she showed them all up in a hero’s battle duel game.

“You’re so good at this, Kanzaki! Does your quirk give you innate ability at video games too?” Midoriya asked curiously. The girl grinned lightly, her focus still zoned in on the game as she talked.

“Not exactly. It doesn’t directly make me a better player, but I’ve found that being able to bring the characters to life in front of me and interact with them has really helped me understand their true potential,” she explained just as her character of All-Might knocked the computer’s Endeavor out of the ring. “It’s interesting, though. I used to be a crazy huge fan of Endeavor until I met his video game character. He was more arrogant and cruel than most of the A-class kids.”

“That’s interesting. I wonder how accurate your holograms’ personalities are to the real thing…” Midoriya mumbled to himself as he produced one of his famous notebooks seemingly out of thin air and began scribbling in it. Hitoshi smirked at his best friend’s antics. What a dork.

-.-.-.-

Later that night, as the boys all gathered in their dorm, they had at some point formed a circle and were discussing what girls they thought were the cutest. Hitoshi, upon hearing the gossip, instinctively pulled out his phone and began entertaining himself with pictures of kittens.

“Hey, Midoriya. Which girl in our class do you like the most?” Isogai suddenly asked. Hitoshi couldn’t help but glance up, intrigued by what the green-haired boy might answer.

The boy had flushed a bright red that clashed sharply with his green features. “U-Uh, well, I-I mean Okano’s quirk is super cool, but Okuda is also super smart and really nice when you get to talk to her. Kataoka is super cool and independent, while Kanzaki is so thoughtful. Kurahashi is really cute and sweet too, and Hara always makes us such yummy treats, and Nakamura is really easy to talk to, and so is Yada. Oh, did I mentioned that Kanzaki is also very pretty, and so is Hayami when she’s not glaring at you, and Fuwa…” the boy continued to ramble on and on about every girl in their class, even going back and repeating a couple. Hitoshi bit his lip to keep from bursting out laughing as Isogai and his buddy sweatdropped.

“I’m sorry we even asked,” murmured Mimura. Hitoshi couldn’t hold back a snort, mistakenly bringing attention to himself.

“What about you, Hitoshi? Any girl catch your eye?” Maehara asked. The brainwasher pursed his lips in a very firm line.

“I mean I haven’t really talked to any of them. Okuda and Kanzaki were in my group today, but we spent more time fighting that dumb sludge monster than actually interacting. So, I can’t really say any of them have caught my eye yet, no,” he answered truthfully. It apparently was not the reply the others were anticipating.

Isogai shook his head. “I guess we shouldn’t be so surprised. Besides Karasuma, you’re the only other boy who can resist Bitch-sensei. And unlike Karasuma, it’s not because you can’t smell things if your ability to sniff out coffee from a mile away is anything to go by.”

The boys erupted into a fit of giggles, all remembering the manhunt the purple-haired boy went on when he smelt an espresso Bitch -sensei brought in one day. The blonde bombshell had been thoroughly scared for her life.

Suddenly, the rooms to the doors slid open, revealing a freshly showered Karma, and their laughter only intensified. The devilish boy frowned, clearly confused.

“Hmm? Something wrong?” he asked.

Okajima was practically crying. “What’s up with your hair, dude?!”

Karma’s normally solid bright red hair had transformed and was doing some odd red to white ombré. If someone would have added a white puffball on top, it would’ve looked like he was wearing a goddamn Santa hat.

It was freaking hilarious.

Hitoshi couldn’t remember the last time he laughed so hard. He couldn’t help but take pictures, not even fearing his own safety. Korosensei suddenly appeared beside him, coaching him on what angles to take the photos. A perplexed Karma marched over and snatched the phone out of his hand. The look of horror that came over his face was hysterical.

“What the—? What the hell was in that shampoo?” he asked furiously. Korosensei scratched the back of his head guiltily.

“It would appear you accidentally used my super intense Koro-poo, capable of washing anything and everything out of hair — apparently including color. I’ll have to add that to the list of possible side effects before I put it out on the market,” the octopus explained. Karma gritted his teeth, a knife materializing out of nowhere and began attacking their teacher mercilessly.

“Wait a minute, Korosensei,” Hitoshi commented. “Why do you have a shampoo brand? You don’t even have hair.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t implement my clean agenda on the rest of the world!” their teacher said, pausing in front of the purple-haired boy to answer. Karma took that moment to throw his knife at teacher’s head, narrowly missing it. Korosensei squealed.

“Okay, Karma, you win, I’m sorry I turned your hair white! I promise I’ll fix it!” There was a wild blur and then suddenly Karma’s hair was wrapped entirely in tin foil. “That should do the trick! Your hair should be back to its demonically red color in no time.”

Midoriya blinked owlishly. “You can dye hair too? How’d you learn so much about hair care, sir?”

“It’s just a little trade secret of mine,” the teacher replied, grinning impishly. “Now, what’s this I hear about girls?”

-.-.-.-

So middle school wasn’t exactly what Hitoshi had been planning for it to be. Being in E-class kind of made that impossible. His grades were getting better and better, and he couldn’t exactly ever fly under the radar anymore. He had opened up to using his quirk for at least one person and was actively planning on showing it to his teachers and classmates eventually.

And most of all, he had friends.

So what if being in the ‘end class’ was a blip on his resume for U.A.? Here, he was learning how to fight and kill his teacher, the number one villain. Here, he was getting the skills he needed to succeed in his dream future.

He may have been a nobody yesterday, and an assassin today. But tomorrow, he was going to be a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking
> 
> In a nutshell: Shinsou got thrown into E-class for being a hero, the Five Virtuosos are creeps, Shinsou knows Midoriya is quirkless, people start using their quirks to kill Korosensei, they bomb their midterms and go to Musutafu where they meet Bakugou and wreak havoc. Oh, and Midoriya and Shinsou make a deal to start training together, and Korosensei’s fancy shampoo made Karma’s hair red and…white…strange, huh?


	3. To Become Stronger (Ep. 9-12)

The days following the trip, he and Shinsou met up early before school like usual to talk and exchange coffee and sweets. Unlike usual, however, after Shinsou downed his expresso way too fast to be healthy, and Izuku had finished his red bean bun, the purple-haired boy put down the cup and sent a wide kick at his friend’s face.

Izuku, not expecting the sudden attack, could only stumble backward to dodge. He barely had time to regain his footing before Shinsou came at him again, this time his anti-sensei knife drawn and poised to attack. The green-haired boy was a bit more prepared this time and blocked the attack, knocking the arm away and ducking under as he tried to swipe Shinsou’s legs out from under him. The purple-haired boy jumped back and for a second neither of them moved, both struggling to catch their breath.

“Um, Shinsou,” Izuku said after his heart rate began to slow again. “Is there a reason you’re trying to kill me over coffee?”

The brainwasher smirked, putting his knife away. “We made a bet, remember? Whoever is the better assassin at the end of the year — assuming the world doesn’t end, of course — gets to design the other’s hero costume. And there’s no way I’m giving this opportunity up. Now, how do you feel about hot pink?”

Izuku giggled and gave his friend a playful push. “Please. You might as well give up now because you know I’m gonna win. Karasuma says I have the most potential in hand-to-hand.”

“Maybe out of the girls,” Shinsou teased as they began to walk inside the building. “Besides, even if you are better at fighting, I’ll win off sheer willpower; there is no way I’m letting you touch my costume.”

“Hey! I would be a great costume designer!”

“Keep telling yourself that, Jolly Green. I’ve seen your bunny costume sketches. I’ll be doing you a favor.”

-.-.-.-

They got a new transfer student.

She was a giant box robot.

Apparently, the world governments were more desperate than originally imagined. They hired an outside company from Norway to create an assassination robot, formally called Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery, that supposedly had the ability to calculate data from previous attempts and evolve attacks at rapid speeds to make them more accurate each attempt.

Izuku was just glad they gave her a human face on a screen and a voice, even if it was emotionless and robotic and done only for the purpose of passing her off as a student. And like all the other students, she was tasked with killing Korosensei before graduation.

And boy did she try.

There wasn’t a peaceful moment left in class 3-E that day. Even during instruction, there was constant gunfire as the robot recalculated and polished her attacks with seemingly endless artillery. Despite how annoying it was, there was evidence it was working at least. By the robot’s second attack, she had actually succeeded in blowing off one of Korosensei’s fingers.

That didn’t make it any less aggravating, however. By lunch, Shinsou looked ready to smash the robot into a million pieces. He wasn’t alone in that opinion.

“This is just bullshit. I can’t believe we have to deal with her shooting up the classroom all day and then we have to clean up her mess,” Terasaka mumbled, and for once Izuku found himself agreeing with the boy.

Shinsou leaned against his broom and sighed. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not going to put up for this for another day. I come to school to learn, not play duck-and-cover in a war zone.”

“I like how you think, Turnip-Head,” the lion boy commented. Shinsou rolled his eyes and got back to sweeping.

Izuku hesitantly eyed the black machine, which had since gone silent now that her target was no longer in the room. They were right. They couldn’t spend the rest of the school days avoiding bullet showers. Even if her statistics were right, and there was a likelihood she could kill Korosensei by graduation, there wouldn’t be much benefit for the rest of E-class; there would be no way they could pass entrance exams, and they wouldn’t even get a share of the money if she assassinated their teacher.

There might be a 90% chance of her success if she kept this up, but at the same time, that meant a 100% chance of utter failure for everyone else.

-.-.-.-

The next morning, after his and Shinsou’s quick duel (which he totally won, no matter what the other said), Izuku walked in to find the assassination machine wrapped up in tape. He stared at his best friend out of the corner of his eye.

“Shinsou...did you do this?”

Shinsou didn’t even bother feigning ignorance. “No, Terasaka did. I just came up with the idea.”

Normally Izuku would lecture him on the negatives of feeding into his evil mastermind tendencies and how he was starting to act like Karma, but this time he couldn’t bring himself to care. And as he thought about the quiet time he could have in class now, he couldn’t help but be a little grateful.

-.-.-.-

In the end, Korosensei saved the day, spending all of his money to give the robot upgrades so that she had a broader range of expression and a more approachable appearance, replacing her tiny screen for a full body screen. The robot was strangely poetic and very cutesy, which was just all sorts of weird, but a welcomed change. She no longer was trying to shoot Korosensei twenty-four-seven and had a newfound respect for her classmate’s learning environment.

As the day went on, she actually turned out to be pretty fun. She was great at gathering and analyzing data, and they had a pretty awesome conversation about heroes and their quirks during lunch.

Even Shinsou, despite his previous biases against her, was growing fond of the robot after he learned one of her features allowed her to brew coffee. The brainwasher was still frustrated by the fact that she had completely destroyed him in a game of chess; beforehand, the only person who could come close to beating Shinsou was Karma.

“Hey, don’t you think it’s time you got a new name?” Izuku asked, glancing at the robot as he consoled his best friend after his defeat. The lilac-haired girl looked confused at the proposition.

“I agree. Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery is a bit of a mouthful,” Kataoka added.

Fuwa suddenly perked up. “Oh, I got it! Since jiritsu means autonomy is Japanese, why not called her Ritsu?”

“Ritsu?” the robot echoed. “I think I like it. Call me Ritsu, everyone!”

Izuku grinned and bumped shoulders with his sulking best friend as his classmates gushed over the robot girl. “She’s fitting in pretty nicely now with this new programming, don’t you think?”

“Maybe,” Shinsou said. “She’s still a robot though. I won’t be surprised if her creator changes her back soon.”

“What makes you say that?” the green-haired boy asked, blinking widely.

Shinsou hummed, picking up the smallest piece on his chessboard. “Well, when it comes down to it, she is still a pawn. She doesn’t exactly have free will. And masters aren’t too keen on having their pawns making their own decisions.” The brainwasher gripped the pawn piece in his hand tightly, his face darkened with a shadow from his hair as he stared down. His purple eyes seemed to glow with dejection.

“Trust me. I would know.”

-.-.-.-

Like Shinsou predicted, the next day Ritsu was remodeled back to her old self.

Unlike Shinsou predicted, however, the robot defied all expectations and managed to retain the majority of her old programming, choosing to hide it from her creator after she decided she liked being friends with everyone better than being a constant assassin. She had proven that she had her own free will.

And while everyone else congratulated her and cheered her on, Izuku couldn’t help but notice the unreadable expression on his best friend’s face, the pawn piece still sitting in his palm.

-.-.-.-

There was a strange man in the school building. Izuku had come inside during lunch, hoping to get some extra help on chemistry. When he noticed the tense aura surrounding his two human teachers as they confronted the man, he couldn’t help but instinctively hide in the nearest storage closet.

“I think it’s about time you run along home, Irina. Leave the rest of this mission to me,” the man said, his accent strong and foreign. “You do great work in undercover missions, yes, but you are little use once your cover has been blown.”

Izuku’s eyes widened and tried to peer outside to see what was going on. Ms. Jelavić was standing up shakily.

“Please, sir. Give me another chance. I can do it, I—” she pleaded, but then suddenly cried out. Moving at speeds that could only be topped by Korosensei, the strange man grabbed Ms. Jelavić’s arm and pinned it behind her back.

“Don’t take this personally, Irina. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It’s time you accepted yours and went home,” he said darkly. Suddenly, Korosensei appeared out of nowhere in his usual noisy manner, but Izuku was no longer listening in on his conversation. His mind was still caught on one subject: strengths and weaknesses.

The concept has haunted Izuku his whole life. At first, in his All-Might consumed mind, there had been nothing but strength. But then, as he had sat there in the hospital room, the doctor staring him down as he explained those stupid x-rays of his feet — the word quirkless echoing in his mind — he felt so incredibly _weak_.

It didn’t help that his childhood ex-friend was obsessed with the concept as well; he was driven on this idealism of survival of the fittest, and the moment it became known Izuku was quirkless, the green-haired boy was now seen as the least fit of all. Their friendship turned to dust in days, and that only solidified when Izuku dared stop Bakugou from bullying another boy.

Even this school was built off the concept. Those in the main building, classes A through D, were deemed strong enough and therefore worthy of such benefits. E-class was the mole rat, the stepping stones designed to be tread on. Their quirks were too weak; their grades were too low; their behavior was too improper.

In E-class, though, he thought he had finally found an escape. A place where everyone was welcoming no matter what your talents were, and even their immensely powerful teacher was willing to slow down and loan them the strength to overcome any weakness.

He didn’t know why he thought assassination could be different from the rest of the world. In the end, it all comes down to the killer and their target, and whoever is stronger determines who makes it out alive.

Distantly, he processed that Korosensei had arranged some competition for the stranger and Ms. Jelavić to prove who is the better assassin, but it didn’t really settle in that the confrontation was over until he heard footsteps approaching. By then, it was too late to react, and all he could do was awkwardly stand there as the stranger came into view. The old, dark-haired man paused to stare at the frightened boy before scoffing and walking away, muttering about “silly children” and their “snooping”.

Izuku blinked slowly, and the next thing he knew, he was scrambling after the man. “Sir! Wait!” he called out. They were just outside the entrance to the building as the man surprisingly came to a stop, turning back to stare at him.

“What do you want, child?” he said. Izuku tried not to get intimidated by the man’s intense manner.

“Um, I’m sorry to bother you sir, but you shouldn’t say that about Ms. Jelavić. I don’t think you know her that way anymore,” he said anxiously.

The dark-haired man stared directly into his eyes, his anger almost palpable. “You think _I_ don’t know Irina. Do you even know who I am?”

Izuku shook his head meekly and the older man clicked his tongue. “I am Lovro, one of the greatest assassins to ever live. I made Irina and countless other assassins the skilled professionals they are today. If anyone knows your English teacher, it is me.”

“But, that’s just it, Mr. Lovro,” Izuku said, stilled adamant on the matter. “You haven’t seen her grow. E-class has changed her, just like it’s changed all of us. She’s worthy of this mission, and she belongs in this classroom.”

The man scowled deeply and for a split second it seemed like all the air in the surrounding area was gone. Then, as Izuku found it impossible to breathe no matter how much his lungs inhaled, he realized that the air had indeed disappeared. He was suffocating, and the old assassin stared dispassionately at his struggles.

 _This is what you get for being a fucking idiot who doesn’t know when to shut the hell up, Deku,_ the little Bakugou in his head taunted. Izuku had never been more terrified in his life. He always assumed that if he died before graduation, it would be because Korosensei blew up the earth, not because he pissed off one of the deadliest men on the planet.

But then Lovro chortled and the air came rushing back. The green-haired boy inhaled greedily, almost collapsing on the ground

“Your octopus friend said the same thing. It seems he is teaching his students well,” the man said. “You are an odd child. Very brave and quick to defend. A rare combination these days, especially for a future assassin.”

“Oh, no sir,” Izuku replied once he caught his breath. “I don’t want to be an assassin. I want to be a hero.”

Lovro gave him a weird look. “Hero, huh? Well, I see you have much room to grow before you can achieve that.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“I do not mean to offend, child. You are still very small and obviously underdeveloped. Your body shows promise for good stealth and speed, but you lack the muscle and size to defeat larger opponents. Easily worked around of course, if you know how to.”

“Easily…wait!” Izuku, acting on impulse yet again, jumped out to grab onto Lovro’s coat. “Are you saying you can teach me how to fight?”

Lovro, obviously startled, tried to shake the green-haired boy off immediately. “What are you — of course I can! I am the greatest assassin trainer in the world. Now get off, child!”

Izuku did as he was told and instantly slipped into a deep bow on his knees, his nose kissing the floor. “Please teach me how to fight, Mr. Lovro, sir. You s-see, I’m useless otherwise. Being an expert in combat is my only hope to become a hero!”

There was a long, drawn-out moment of silence before Lovro sighed. Izuku glanced up hesitantly.

“Fine, child. I will teach you,” he said, rubbing his temples. “You must be willing to take your training very seriously, though. I will put you through the same training as I do with new assassins.”

“Y-Yes, sir!” Izuku said, scrambling to stand up pin-straight.

“Good. We will begin training here on Saturday at dusk, no later,” the man said, walking away again before pausing mid-step. “Oh, child. What is your name?”

“M-Midoriya Izuku, sir!”

Lovro smirked. “Well, I will accept nothing but the best from you, Midoriya Izuku.”

-.-.-.-

In the end, Ms. Jelavić was able to stay as a teacher and Lovro departed, eyeing Izuku before making his exit. The green-haired boy had figured it was subtle enough, but when class had ended, and Korosensei was bragging about some movie he was going to see in the States, Shinsou dragged him to the side, frowning suspiciously.

“Why was tall, mysterious and foreign staring at you earlier?” he asked bluntly. Izuku felt his face heating up as he struggled to come up with an excuse.

“H-He was?” he said in a high-pitched voice, trying to feign ignorance. It was clear by the bored look on his best friend’s face that Shinsou didn’t buy it for one second. Izuku thought frantically for a different excuse.

“Um, I did bump into him once not long after he showed up. Maybe it’s just because he recognized me?” he tried, telling a partial truth. Shinsou still looked suspicious.

“Yeah. Sure,” he said dryly but didn’t ask any more questions. He just stared, scrutinizing the green-haired boy with his deep purple eyes. Izuku scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea!” the quirkless boy said suddenly. “Since Korosensei was talking about going to go see some movie, what if we went to the movies as well? It won’t be the same one as him, obviously, since that one is getting released in the States only right now, but there’s this new documentary on All-Might and how hero work has changed since he came along.”

When all he got was a blank stare, Izuku backtracked embarrassedly. “I mean, or we could go see something else if that’s too nerdy. Or, like, we don’t have to go at all if you’re not feeling it. That’s cool too. You might be busy, I should’ve asked if you were free first, it was rude of me to just assume otherwise—”

“Midoriya,” Shinsou stated, slapping a hand over the boy’s mouth. “Please be quiet.”

He didn’t feel the unusual sensation of the brainwasher taking control, but Izuku obeyed nonetheless, gazing up with wide eyes.

“Now,” the brainwasher continued. “I’d be happy to go to the movies with you. It sounds like a lot of fun, actually. It’s funny — we focus so much on assassination and crazy schoolwork that we forget to leave room to live like normal middle schoolers.”

Shinsou smirked, removing his hand from Izuku’s mouth and crossing his arms behind his head. The green-haired boy smiled broadly and couldn’t help but pump his fists in the air.

“Awesome! I checked earlier, and there’s a showing not too long from now. If we hurry, we could still get some good seats.”

The brainwasher hummed. “Sounds good,” he said, making his way down the path. Izuku walked chirpily beside his best friend, growing more and more eager just thinking how amazing this movie would be — and going with his best friend, above all.

Back at his old school, no one ever even wanted to talk to him; whether it be out of fear being on the receiving of Bakugou’s constant wrath, or if they thought associating with him would make them go quirkless as well, it didn’t really matter. But here, in this little assassination academia, he actually had friends; people who genuinely wanted to spend time with him.

While everyone else may not know he’s quirkless yet, his closest friend of all did, and he still treated him all the same. And for Izuku, that one reassurance is all he needed to know that there is still some hope left in the world.

“Hey, Midoriya.”

“Yeah?”

“Just thought you should know. I’m totally going to make you pay for all of this.”

-.-.-.-

Later that week, they got word that they would be having yet another transfer student. After the dramatic mess that was pre-upgraded Ritsu, the whole class couldn’t help but collectively sigh. With final exams steadily approaching, the last thing they needed was for class time to be stopped yet again for a crazed child assassin.

Izuku tried to remain optimistic. After all, what could be worse than an emotionless killing machine?

But then the eerie, white-cloaked man known as Shiro showed up and introduced his son, an emotionless killing machine _human_ who claimed to be Korosensei’s brother, and he realized, _yes, things could very much be worse._

-.-.-.-

The new transfer student’s name was Horibe Itona. He had starch white hair and hypnotizing yellow eyes. He was uncomfortably blunt and serious, and his bloodlust was practically palpable. He was uncannily strong, judging by the fact he made his entrance the first day by punching a giant hole in the wall, and for some reason, he had been completely dry even though it had been down-pouring outside.

Oh, and he also had tentacles growing out of the back of his head.

 _What the fudging fudge is fudging going on here?_ The (censored for the sake of his purity) little Bakugou in his head said.

The boy and his apparent father, Shiro, had challenged Korosensei to a match after school, permitting him to stay in the borders of the classroom while the rest of the students made a circle of desks to stand behind and watch. They expected it to be a quick fight, where Korosensei would swiftly exert his dominance while grooming Horibe’s eyebrows and teaching everyone some important life lesson.

They did not expect the strange boy to grow white tentacles out of his hair, and judging by Korosensei’s beyond furious expression, neither did he. That didn’t matter anymore. When the teacher demanded Shiro explain, the white-cloaked man responded by shining a strange beam on the octopus, making him almost immobile. Horibe started attacking relentlessly, forcing Korosensei to pull out every possible defense to protect himself.

It got so bad that Izuku found himself worrying that the creepy father-son duo might actually succeed and that everything they’ve worked for this year would be for nothing. He bit his lip anxiously. His training to be an assassin was the only thing guaranteeing him a future as a quirkless hero, and while it may sound selfish to say (considering the survival of the world was at risk), it didn’t seem right that someone outside of 3-E might kill Korosensei. He was _their_ teacher; _their_ target; _their_ responsibility.

But before the fight could go any further south, Korosensei whipped out anti-sensei knives out of nowhere, damaging Horibe’s tentacles before wrapping the boy in his molten skin as protection and chucking him out the window, therefore out of bounds.

Korosensei won — Horibe Itona was carried away by Shiro, who declared the boy would return at an unsaid date — and E-class would have another chance to kill their teacher on their own.

The way it should be.

-.-.-.-

Izuku spent most of his Saturday afternoon waiting on the training grounds outside the 3-E building, not exactly sure when ‘dusk’ started. He didn’t want to show up late and make Lovro wait, so his anxious little self settled for sitting on his own for two hours.

Just as the sun was beginning to set and the sky turned a beautiful mix of purple and orange, he heard a harsh rustle coming from the bushes behind him. He spun around, expecting to find Lovro standing there, but he saw nothing. He continued to stare, partially waiting for the assassin to materialize out of midair when he felt something tap him on the shoulder.

“I believe you’re only required to come here on weekdays, Midoriya,” a familiar cocky voice said. Izuku jumped, spinning around and striking with his knife that he pulled out with surprising ease. The octopus was, of course, hardly phased and dodged easily while holding his tentacles up in the air as if surrendering.

“Hey! While I applaud your reflexes, I can only stand these constant assassination attempts so many days a week!” Korosensei cried. Izuku slowly lowered his knife and smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, sensei. You scared me there. I was, uh…expecting someone else.”

“Oh?” the octopus said, grinning mischievously and green stripes appearing on his face. “And who might that be? Perhaps some pretty girl, hmm?”

“No!” Izuku cried, his cheeks flaming up and his arms flailing widely.

The octopus’ skin had changed to a light shade of pink. “No? Is it a very special boy then? I don’t judge, of course.”

“No!” the green-haired boy objected, his voice cracking. He buried his burning face in his palms as the teacher poked playfully at the embarrassed boy.

“Oh really? Who is it, then?”

“It’s me.”

The teacher and student looked over and saw Lovro coming out of the tree line. Korosensei, for once in his life, looked at a loss of words.

 _“You?”_ the octopus spat, completely aghast. He grabbed Izuku by the cheeks and pulled at them painfully. “I’m afraid I simply cannot condone this, Midoriya! This man is incredibly too old for you — just look at his wrinkled and sunken in face! Hardly could be considered attractive. I understand that many youngsters are drawn to older men mainly for their money, but at least hold yourself to a higher standard than that, Midoriya! Karasuma, for example—”

“Stop!” Izuku exclaimed, pushing the tentacles away. He wished he could go dig a hole so he could curl up into a ball and _die._ “I’m not meeting him for…that reason! He promised to train me to become a better fighter and assassin!”

An awkward pause passed over everyone.

“Oh.”

Korosensei at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Lovro sighed loudly and rubbed his face.

“Now that foolishness is out of the way,” the foreign assassin said. “May I get to teaching my student? There is much I need to cover tonight.”

“Your student?” Korosensei repeated, his face darkening. _Oh great, his teacher pride was wounded._ “I’ll have you know, Mr. Lovro, that Midoriya always is and always will be my student first. And if I personally want to oversee _my_ student’s learning, I will.”

The two men stared down each other, Izuku standing awkwardly between them.

“I’m afraid that is unacceptable. How do you expect young Midoriya to use any of the skills I teach him if you are here to learn them all?”

Izuku cleared his throat timidly. “Um, I really don’t mind, sir…”

“Silence, Midoriya. I simply cannot allow this man to observe everything — especially your quirk.”

Izuku stiffened instantly. _Oh god…_

Korosensei seemed to understand the reasoning; it was, after all, the reason he never came to Quirk Training. The octopus back of slightly, thought the usual smile had yet to return to his face.

“Alright, Lovro,” he said finally. “I’ll let you teach my student alone. But heed my words: if I catch word that you’re teaching Midoriya anything I don’t approve of, I _will_ make you pay for it.”

The teacher’s eyes glowed red for effect, and Izuku felt himself sweat-drop. Lovro didn’t seem to feel as intimidated and nodded, holding his hand out calmly. Korosensei gripped it with his fingered tentacle as the two men made a silent agreement among themselves. When they dropped their hands, Korosensei turned back to the green-haired boy, smiling once again.

“Well, you two have fun with your assassination training! See you in class, Midoriya!” he said before launching into the sky at Mach-20. Izuku covered his eyes from the dust kick-up before turning hesitantly to the foreign assassin. The man popped his knuckles and took off his coat.

“Well, Midoriya Izuku,” he said. “Let’s begin. But first, I must ask what your quirk is so that I can teach you how to fight with it.”

“Oh, um,” the green-haired boy said, clamming up instantly. He felt like he was going to be sick; why did he ever think this was going to be a good idea? “Y-You see, um, well, I’m…I’m q-quirkless?”

His voice pitched up at the end as if it were a question. Lovro blatantly tensed and gazed at him blankly for a couple minutes before sighing loudly.

“Of course,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Your training just got much more interesting. Ten laps around the school. Go, now.”

-.-.-.-

Training with Lovro was definitely not fun. To be exact, it sucked.

The man worked him ruthlessly, rarely giving him a break. By the end of it, Izuku was sure he was one lap away from having heart failure. Currently, all the foreign assassin was focusing on was conditioning, trying to get Izuku fit enough to make up for his lack of physical quirk — or quirk at all.

 _But at least he’s still willing to train me,_ Izuku thought, trying to remain optimistic as he dragged himself home. He had been terrified Lovro would drop him the moment he learned he was quirkless, so he was willing to take the gruesome workouts if it meant the assassin would still teach him.

It was almost ten o’clock at night by the time he finally reached his home — a tiny two-bedroom apartment not far from Kunugigoka that they were renting temporarily while Izuku finished up his third year. His mother had sacrificed a lot to get him far away from Bakugou and into a prestigious enough academy that would keep high schools from wondering why he transferred. He was eternally grateful for what she had given up for his future, even turning down a promotion to take a new job here.

He understood, however, that she was hoping this new school would push him to pursue a different dream than becoming a hero, which is why he was careful to keep his assassination training at school a secret, and instead pretended to be extremely invested in his schoolwork. He had told his mother he was meeting up with some friends from class to study for an upcoming quiz so she wouldn’t be suspicious.

“Mom! I’m home!” he called out when he opened the door. His mother peeked her head out from inside the kitchen, still in her work uniform. She had probably just gotten home from her shift.

“Hi dear! How was studying?” she asked. Izuku placed his backpack (filled with prop textbooks to sell his story) next to his shoes.

“It was good, it definitely helped a lot,” he said, wincing as he straightened his back out. He was going to be sore for days.

“Oh, guess what!” his mother said cheerfully as she began to snack — food had become her comfort and stress relief lately. “I was talking with a customer at work, and she said that her son had attended Kunugigoka when he was younger, and while beforehand she worried he would never make it to high school, he was so motivated by the school that now he is the top medical student at his university. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Yeah, incredible,” Izuku said, filling up a glass of water. His mother had been coming home with these Kunugigoka success stories almost every day for the past two weeks, likely trying to inspire him to do the same. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that the students in her stories weren’t ever in 3-E.

“There are many promising careers you can easily pursue just by having Kunugigoka in your background: lawyer, doctor, engineer, dentist, project manager…hey, are you even listening?”

Izuku jumped slightly, instantly getting knocked out of his dozing state. “What?” he said. When he noticed his mother’s stern gaze, he bit his lip. “Oh, sorry mom. I’m just really exhausted after studying for so long. I think I’m just gonna go to bed.”

“Okay sweetie!” his mother said, the smile returning to her face as she finished off her rice cake.

Izuku sighed as he entered his bedroom, closing the door behind him. The giant All-Might poster above his bed greeted him, his triumphant smile giving him the motivation to keep pushing. One day, he would be on one for those posters. One day, he would bring hope for a young, broken boy like himself.

At his old apartment, every inch of his walls had been covered in posters of every hero out there. His mom had offered to help him put them back up when he moved, but Izuku declined, seeing no point. Give it a year, and he would be back in Musutafu, attending the greatest hero school in the country.

That’s the dream. They just have to stop the earth from blowing up, first.

-.-.-.-

Izuku had never been very keen on sports.

Well, to be completely accurate, he was absolute trash at sports. While he was half-decent at running (due to years of running away from Bakugou), whenever a task and a ball was added into the mix, as well as the competitive nature of it all, he tended to crumble. His anxiety made him utterly challenged whenever he was told to kick a goal or throw a pitch, and all of his attempts ended up being pitiful at best.

So when Korosensei’s announced he was going to coach them for the upcoming exhibition baseball game between the Kunugigoka baseball team and the boys of 3-E, Izuku’s immediate reaction was to find every excuse not to compete.

Of course, in his panic, the best excuse he came up with was, “I think I’m going to be sick that day!” (Which wasn’t entirely a lie, since the thought of playing a sport made him ill). His classmates in the surrounding area stared at him blankly, while Shinsou just face-palmed.

“Lord, help him,” he muttered. Izuku frowned, embarrassed, and elbowed his friend in the arm.

“It’s okay, Midoriya. We all feel that way when it comes to competing against the main campus kids,” Nagisa said comfortingly.

“No joke,” Mimura exclaimed. “Everyone knows these exhibition games are just created for the student body to get a few good laughs at our humiliation.”

The rest of the boys nodded in agreement, echoing their sympathy. Midoriya still didn’t feel any better.

“Never fear, Young Midoriya!” Korosensei proclaimed, appearing behind the green-haired boy out of nowhere. “With my specialized training and immaculate coaching strategies, our success is foolproof!”

 _The problem with that_ , Midoriya thought anxiously as they were led to the newly polished yard, perfect for baseball training, _is that the ones pulling the strings on the main campus could hardly be considered fools_.

-.-.-.-

Korosensei’s idea of ‘specialized training’ was moving at Mach-20 so his doubles made up an entire baseball team, topped with supersonic pitches and aggravating trash talk. The whole exercise just seemed to prove everyone’s suspicions — that they were utter trash.

No one could hit a ball beyond bunting it, and their throwing and catching skills were subpar. Shinsou had given up moments in after Korosensei tried to get him to run laps through the bases, and the brainwasher had settled for kicking pebbles at the octopus’ doubles for fun with Karma. Their one saving grace was the resident baseball geek, Sugino; who, even though it’s against the rules to use your quirk in competitive sport settings, had improved his normal pitch tremendously. It gave everyone at least a little hope for success.

After falling flat on his face trying to run to first base, and just before Izuku felt he was seconds from death, their teacher stopped the practice and called Mimura to the front.

“Now, for the past few days, I’ve been having our best spy gather data on our opponents. Mimura, if you would,” the teacher explained. The bowl-cut boy nodded and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, they began to glow, forming a holographic screen showing video of the Kunugigoka baseball team practicing.

“Whoa, Mimura! That’s your quirk?” Sugaya asked.

“Yup. It’s called Record. I record everything I see in my head and can play it back through this hologram with my eyes,” the boy answered, his voice sounding awfully strained. Tears started forming in his eyes. “The only problem is that it kind of hurts to keep my eyes open for a long time.”

Izuku robotically had whipped out his notebook the moment Mimura presented his quirk and started writing. He heard Shinsou squawk from next to him, “Where do you even keep that thing?”

Korosensei explained that while the opposing team’s captain and pitcher, Shindo, had an extremely impressive fastball, the speeds at which the boy throws are slow motion compared to what Korosensei had been throwing. Meaning when they go to bat against him at the game, they should have no problem bunting the ball with precision.

“I knew I couldn’t make you home-run hitters in a few days,” Korosensei elaborated. “But I had absolute faith that I could train your reaction time to be used to balls going upwards 300 kilometers per hour, so any normal pitch would seem like a walk in the park. And when it comes down to it, this is nothing different from any other assassin versus target situation. You all have the skills to try and take out someone like me, so don’t stress about taking down smaller opponents. Now, back to practice! We have a game to win!”

Izuku couldn’t help but groan as he grabbed his baseball glove, stealing it back from Shinsou (the brainwasher was using it as an eye mask so he could take a nap). He certainly hoped Korosensei was right.

-.-.-.-

To the shock of everyone, they had started out the game surprisingly strong. Korosensei’s training and strategy was working to the T, and it was obvious the other team was getting flustered. As Sugino went up to bat and managed to clear the bases and land himself on third, Izuku was actually starting to think their Assassination Baseball mission could actually be a success.

But then the Kunugigoka team got a coach change, and Principal Asano took his place.

_-.-.-.-_

Everything went downhill fast. After the baseball team had a timeout with the manipulative man, the entire team moved completely infield, and the umpire didn’t make any call on it. Their bunting strategy was completely useless, and dread settled in Izuku’s stomach when he realized he was up next to bat.

He turned desperately to Korosensei, who was posing in the outfield as a baseball and had been giving them directions by changing colors as a type of code. Instead of providing guidance, however, the octopus merely covered his face in shame.

“Nothing?!” he cried to himself as he walked to the plate. He felt like throwing up. The Kunugigoka team had completely changed, staring at Izuku blankly like mindless creatures with only one goal: to crush him.

Shindo pitched his famous fastball robotically and Izuku could do nothing but desperately pop it up. It was caught easily, and the green-haired boy had never been more relieved to hear he was out.

“What kind of animal is Principal Asano?” he said as he returned to the dugout, collapsing next to Shinsou on the bench. “It’s like a completely different group of people! I was worried they were going to tear me limb from limb.”

“He clearly has a mind quirk,” Shinsou said, looking more thoughtful than Izuku had ever seen him. His eyes wouldn’t leave the principal in question. “And it has something to do with his eyes. The players wouldn’t stop staring into his eyes when he was talking. At first, I thought it was some kind of hypnosis quirk, but I think it’s much more complex than that…”

Izuku nodded. “I mean, quirks are usually genetic, so it’s probably pretty similar to his son’s. Isn’t it some kind of omniscience type?”

“Yeah. When Asano makes skin-to-skin contact, he automatically knows things about you. The more or longer he touches you, the deeper the things he learns about you get,” Shinsou explained. The brainwasher sighed and leaned back, covering his eyes with his arm. “I’m not sure how that ties into his father. Maybe he looks you in the eye and knows how to manipulate you?”

It was a scary thought, especially for a man like Principal Asano. Izuku remembered the first time he met the man, during his quirk evaluation for the school. The man had laughed at Izuku for being quirkless, viewing him below the scum of the earth. To think such a man knew how to control someone just by looking at them was petrifying.

-.-.-.-

The game continued to grow more and more grim. While they managed to keep them from scoring at the bottom of the first, E-class was completely shut down again by the opposing team’s cheap tactic of crowding the infield and was out within the first three batters. The Kunugigoka team came back at the bottom of the second with a vengeance, scoring two runs while E-class could do nothing but watch.

When it came to the top of the third, Izuku noticed that Shinsou and Karma seemed to have plotted earlier in the game with Korosensei. The two boys were doing what they do best: shamelessly pissing off and insulting the crowd and bluntly calling out the other team for cheating. As the purple-haired boy walked up to bat, he even called Shindo a cowardly mindless dog. The pitcher’s nostrils flared at the insult, making the brainwasher smirk.

“You better watch your mouth, E-class freak!” Shindo spat, rearing back to throw. Shinsou merely shrugged and halfheartedly held his bat up to swing.

“Or what? It’s not like you’ll _hit me_ or anything.”

The pitcher scowled as he winded up to throw and sent his famous fastball — headed directly for Shinsou.

Thankfully, the boy was quick enough get out of the way before it hit him directly on, instead letting it skim his arms; nonetheless, it was undeniably a hit, no matter how biased the umpire was, and Shinsou got a free walk to first base.

“Wow. I can’t believe he actually hit him,” Karma mused, smirking. Shindo was staring at his hand as if it had acted on its own accord. Izuku exchanged disbelieving looks with Nagisa, though for different reasons.

_Had Shinsou really just used his quirk?_

The brainwasher was always so conservative using his quirk, only doing it when he felt it was safe or if he was desperate; he hadn’t even used it on Korosensei yet. It seems his animosity around his quirk was working in his favor. He used it subtle enough for bystanders to just think it was a slip-up, and no one called him for cheating.

The look on the principal’s face, however, was way too unsettling; he was watching Shinsou as if he was some intriguing specimen. The smirk grew on the manipulative man’s face.

_Oh crap._

-.-.-.-

By some unbelievable miracle, they actually won the game. When it came Shindo’s time to bat during the last inning, Korosensei pulled out his final strategy — having Shinsou and Karma stand just feet away from the batter, blatantly distracting and intimidating the baseball player. And, as Karma pointed out, the umpire couldn’t do a thing since he refused to call the opposing team for their extensive defense earlier.

Izuku could just barely hear what the boys were saying from his spot on third base.

“You okay there, Mr. Chosen One? You’re not worried about hitting us, are you?” Karma teased. Shindo gritted his teeth, eyes shifting wildly between Shinsou and Karma. When Sugino pitched, the boy swung madly, bat coming centimeters from the two boy’s as they expertly dodged, and the ball landed safely in Nagisa’s glove.

“Strike!” the umpire called, making Shindo look even more alarmed.

“You seem a little shaken, Shindo. Strange how easily your control can be taken from you, huh?” Shinsou mocked cruelly.

That seemed to make Shindo finally snap. He his next swing was entirely off, letting the ball bounce to the ground in front of Karma, who tossed it to Nagisa to get the person on third out. Suddenly Izuku saw the ball being tossed to him, and he barely had time to react, throwing his hands in front of his face defensively. To his shock, the ball landed cleanly in his glove, getting another player out.

“C’mon, Izuku! Throw it to first!” his teammates cried. Izuku had half a brain to do just that and threw the ball with all his might. Pre-Korosensei training, the ball would’ve likely only gone a few meters, but now it sailed all the way over to Sugaya on first base. It landed right in front of the gray-haired boy, who easily scooped it up, getting the third player out.

It took a good minute and an earful of screaming from the biased announcer before it dawned on Izuku that they won. Maehara jogged by and gave Izuku a celebratory pat on the back while Kimura complimented his catch.

“Not bad for someone who was supposed to be sick today,” Shinsou teased as he walked up to him. Izuku laughed lightheartedly.

“I can’t believe we won. The crowd sure doesn’t look too happy about it,” he said, eyeing the outraged stadium.

Shinsou sighed. “Who cares? It’s about time we showed them we’re more than laughing stocks.”

Just as they’re leaving the field, Izuku realized he left his notebook in the dugout and informed his best friend of this, telling him he’ll be right back. Shinsou looked at him like he’s mad, probably wondering why on earth he would bring his notebook to a baseball game (in his defense, you never know when a perfect quirk demonstration will happen).

When he returned, notebook grasped firmly in his hand, he came to a dead stop at the sight before him. Shinsou was standing in the same spot, his expression as unreadable as usual, just like Izuku had left him. However, there was a terrifying new addition. Principal Asano stood behind the brainwasher, his hand placed firmly on Shinsou’s shoulder. He appeared to be saying something in the purple-haired boy’s ear, his charismatic yet cruel smile present the entire time. His friend was completely still and tense the entire time as if bracing for an attack at any time — and in a way, he was.

Then, just as quickly as he appeared, the principal walked away, his smile unceasing. Izuku approached his frozen friend tentatively. Though it was clear the boy was trying to hide it, the stress and terror was still evident in Shinsou’s body language. The boy seemed to be having a staring contest with the floor; so intense, in fact, that when Izuku lightly touched his arm, the brainwasher flinched as if he had been smacked.

“Shinsou…” he said, but found himself at a loss for words. The brainwasher’s eyes gave away how distressed the boy was, even as he tried to shrug it off.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it, Jolly Green,” the boy said weakly, his usual smirk forcibly returning to his face. “Let’s just go home, okay?”

No, it wasn’t okay. There was so much Izuku wanted to say, to ask. He knew how frazzled Shinsou was; it was written all over the boy’s face. Principal Asano was a manipulative monster, and even though Shinsou was one of the most indifferent, stubborn people Izuku knew, there was little doubt that the principal could easily see through the brainwasher.

They were halfway through there walk home when Izuku finally asked, “You’re not in any kind of trouble, are you?”

Shinsou stopped walking, and it was only through training with Korosensei was the quirkless boy able to halt before ramming into his friend’s back.

“I don’t know,” the brainwasher finally responded. “Are you?”

Izuku knew that his friend was referring to the suspicious interaction with Lovro. The green-haired sighed deeply, looking down at his hands. Why were they both such a mess?

“I don’t know,” he finally answered, though he wanted to say so much more. He didn’t want to keep feeding into Shinsou’s defenses, but he had no choice if he wanted to protect his own. He couldn’t learn his friend’s problems without telling his own, but he wasn’t quite ready to gives those up.

Assassination is, after all, work established on secrets.

-.-.-.-

For once, Izuku’s prayers were answered, and when he met up with Shinsou early the next morning, coffee in hand (with extra cream, just in case), things returned back to normal. They seemed to make a silent agreement to move past the awkward confrontations the day before and followed their routine as per usual.

After their daily morning sparring session ended in the typical draw, each with a knife at each other’s throats, Shinsou strangely didn’t start to walk in with Izuku like usual. He stayed back, digging absentmindedly through his bag. The green-haired boy paused and looked back at his best friend.

“Shinsou?” he asked. The brainwasher didn’t reply but looked up slowly, a suspicious gleam in his eye. That was all the answer Izuku needed.

The quirkless boy was just a second slow reacting, though. Before he could jump out of the way, Shinsou had dropped his bag and flicked out his arms. An unidentifiable object rocketed forward from the boy’s palms and wrapped around Izuku’s arm and leg in seconds. Shinsou yanked and the smaller boy was on his back, wondering what had just happened.

“Is this…string?” he asked slowly, sitting up to get a better look. “Did you just seriously take me out with a yoyo?”

Shinsou shrugged smugly, releasing the string wrapped around Izuku’s limps. “It’s like a modified yoyo if that makes you feel any better,” he explained. It didn’t. “I got the idea watching Itona and Korosensei attack each other with their tentacles, using them to get extra reach. I’m still trying to get it to work exactly how I want, but this whole invention thing never really was my forte.”

The brainwasher held out the small devices for Izuku to get a better look. There were two identical metal spheres, only about two to three centimeters in diameter, with a hole that dispensed the string that appeared to be winded up inside. There was a metal ring at the end of the string that Shinsou wore on each of his middle fingers. The purple-haired boy demonstrated pushing the sphere up against the ring and clicking it in place, making it look like a really odd fashion choice instead of a weapon.

“That’s so cool Shinsou! You really did that yourself?” Izuku asked, eyes wide. The brainwasher hummed bashfully.

“I had a lot of help from one of my foster siblings. She has a reverse-engineer type quirk, but she’s only seven so she’s still limited in what she can do. It’s way bulkier than I’d like, and the range on it could be a lot better. I’d prefer if there was some sort of way to control the aim besides pure skill to make it more accurate. I also wish I could find material more reliable than string that’s still just as malleable, but there’s nothing remotely cheap enough.”

“Still, this is so cool. It really compliments you; it gives off that whole ‘puppet master’ vibe — in a good way, of course! I’ve always thought when you used your quirk it felt like someone was turning my body into a real-life puppet, is what I mean.”

Shinsou blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah. Has no one ever told you?” Izuku asked, confused. The brainwasher shrugged.

“Well, most people who experience my quirk are too scared to talk to me ever again…” he answered, lips pursed. Izuku froze.

_Oh._

Being quirkless, he had come to develop an unyielding appreciation and love for all quirks, no matter how weak, dangerous, or unconventional they might be perceived to be. It’s why he keeps track of quirks in his notebooks and is so obsessed with heroes. For him, where he’s spent his whole life being either pitied or ostracized, he saw every quirk as a blessing. But ever since coming to E-class, he’s realized that having a quirk doesn’t immediately mean acceptance — or happiness.

But, as he throws his arm over his friend’s shoulder (the best he can, at least. Shinsou is quite a bit taller than him) to cheer him up, smiling widely as he pulls him into class; and as he’s greeted by his classmates, who were slowly becoming more and more like his siblings; and as he absentmindedly stabs at his teacher as Korosensei reviews him on geometry, he can’t help but already feel accepted.

And while he still hasn’t worked the nerve up yet, he has an inkling of a feeling that even when they learn he’s quirkless, those feelings will never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen (through eye contact)  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight
> 
> In a nutshell: E-class gets transfer students and they just cause problems (expect Ritsu turned out alright), Lovro agrees to train Izuku, even when he learns the boy is quirkless, Korosensei is overprotective, Izuku’s mom doesn’t want him to be a hero, Izuku is scared of sports, Shinsou is an evil mastermind (but not like Principal Asano) and gets news toys, and Izuku still hasn’t told E-class he’s quirkless


	4. To Revisit the Past (Ep. 13-15)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who commented and gave input on my question last chapter! I took it all into consideration and reached my decision. You'll get a hint of what it is in the future (*cough* chapter 8), but I really appreciate it all! 
> 
> I plan on coming full force with this book. I'm super excited for it and my brain is always rushing like crazy when I write it. It's just so much fun mixing these two worlds!
> 
> And since I loved the responses last chapter so much, I have a question this chapter too: What are some things you want to see from this series? While most of this book is written/planned, next book (which follows the BNHA storyline) is still fairly open. I'm flexible with anything, even adding something into the next chapter. Just shoot me some of your thoughts!

When Hitoshi was eight, his parents were killed in a tragic accident. At least, that’s what he was told.

They were headed home late one night, coming from a charity benefit his father had been invited to. He was a well-respected neurosurgeon, one of the best in Tokyo, and often attended many events to show his support for the community. His mother, a successful playwright, didn’t want to go; she always claimed the people at those benefits were insufferable. Hitoshi hadn’t wanted them to go either and begged them desperately to stay at home.

But, in the end, they got in the car, and he was left behind with his nanny. His father had hugged him before he left, and his mother kissed his cheek and nose.

They never made it home.

Hitoshi, despite his nanny’s orders, had stayed up late that night, hoping to see his parents one last time before he went to bed. It wasn’t very hard for him. Ever since he was little, getting him to sleep had always been a constant struggle, and nothing the doctors prescribed would help. When he was a toddler, they assumed he was just showing signs of his father’s quirk—a neurological quirk that made his brain relentlessly hyperactive, so he never mentally felt tired—but then when he later presented with brainwashing, he was diagnosed with chronic insomnia.

So he had been wide awake when the flashing lights pulled up to his house at around one o’clock in the morning. He ran downstairs and threw the door open just before the police officers could knock. They stared at him in shock, and he just gazed back.

“Um, hello, kiddo. Is there an adult here for us to talk to?” the woman officer asked. Before he could answer, his nanny came running to the door, not so subtly trying to shove him out of the way.

“Hitoshi, what did I tell you about getting out of bed? You should’ve been asleep for hours by now,” she scolded. Hitoshi didn’t respond. His nanny always got really mad when he did.

“Are you this child’s guardian, ma’am?” the male officer asked.

She nodded wildly. “Ah, yes. I’m his nanny.”

The officers nodded as they exchanged suspicious glances. “Ma’am, we have some pressing information we need to share with you. Would it be alright if we came in?”

His nanny nodded slowly, backing up as she opened the door. “Yes, of course.”

The officers gave their thanks as they stepped inside. Hitoshi backed up to the corner, eyeing them wearily. As his nanny closed the door, he noticed her hands were shaking.

“I-Is something wrong, officers?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so. Would it be alright if you had the child leave the room first, however? I’m not sure this is appropriate for him to hear,” the female officer said. His nanny nodded robotically and grabbed his arm, dragging him out of the room and whispering harshly in his ear to stay in his bedroom. The moment she was gone, Hitoshi pressed his ear against the door.

“There’s been an accident,” the male officer was saying. “We got a call about an hour ago about a car found in a ditch. When we arrived at the scene, the driver and Mrs. Shinsou were dead on arrival. Mr. Shinsou was unresponsive and is in severe critical condition. He’s at the hospital being treated now, but the chances are grim.”

“Oh my god,” his nanny said, sounding horrified. “What…what happened to them?”

“It’s unclear as of now, but the detectives at the scene said there were no obvious signs of foul play. It was likely an accident. We’ll need you and the child to come in for questioning as soon as possible, though.”

“Yes, of course. Let me just grab some things.”

He could hear his nanny approaching his room again, and Hitoshi moved back so he wouldn’t be hit by the flinging door. It was obvious she knew he was eavesdropping, but unlike usual she didn’t get mad at him. Instead, she grabbed his arm and a pair of shoes and pulled him outside. The officers gave them a ride to the hospital, offering their condolences.

Hitoshi never said a word.

-.-.-.-

Though they never officially found evidence of specific cause, it was later classified as an accident, the detectives claiming that this was likely just another tragic case of drivers falling asleep behind the wheel. His father came out of surgery alive but in a coma, and had to be put on life support. The doctors said his brain activity showed hope that he might wake up one day.

Hitoshi held to that hope like a lifeline.

Ever since the accident, he had stopped talking. The only sound he made were his sobs when they handed him his mother’s ashes. He didn’t say goodbye to his nanny when she packed up and left him alone in the empty house. He didn’t protest when the police picked him up and sent him off to social services. He didn’t voice his outrage when the social worker told him his few living relatives declined to take him in, claiming his quirk was much too dangerous. He didn’t tell the movers to stop when they started packing up his house, separating personal items to go into storage while the rest would be auctioned off.

And as he rode off to his new foster home with nothing but a box of belongings, a suitcase of clothes, and a photobook with all the pictures from his childhood a police officer had been kind enough to make for him, Hitoshi didn’t say a word. He let every word fester inside him each silent passing day.

It wasn’t really a surprise he snapped; his suppressed voice — and by default, quirk — told a particularly annoying foster brother to go eat rocks, and the boy obeyed.

He was transferred to a new home the next day, beginning a never-ending cycle. He no longer had a place to call home, a family to love. His father showed no signs of improvement, and every visit to his mother’s family grave only made his heart that much heavier.

And with every day that passes, he feels just a little more alone.

-.-.-.-

Needless to say, when Takaoka Akira showed up with a basket of sweets and started referring to himself as their ‘dad’, Hitoshi was a little bit more than weary. Apparently, the government felt it necessary to give Karasuma some time off as their P.E. teacher.

“Hey, kiddos, don’t you want a sweet too? I’ve got plenty!” Takaoka said, annoyingly cheerful as he stood over Hitoshi. The brainwasher had purposely sat off to the side, away from the uncomfortable display and was playing on his phone absentmindedly.

He eyed the man above him warily. “I’m good,” he answered dismissively, going back to his phone. Suddenly, a shadow fell over him and Takaoka leaned over to put a hand on his shoulder, making the brainwasher tense instantly.

“Well, feel free to come grab some any time, okay? Don’t want you to go hungry!” the man said with a sickening smile, his grip tightening uncomfortably.

Hitoshi had been through enough foster homes and met enough men who liked to claim they were ‘dad’ to know what malicious intent was like when disguised. And Takaoka reeked of it. The touch on his shoulder alone was enough to make the brainwasher have flashbacks of his third foster father, who would beat them all senseless whenever he didn’t feel respected adequately.

And just like that, Takaoka was gone, having returned to his spot among the main group and was chatting amicably with them all. Hitoshi remained frozen, his mind running uncontrollably. The sinking feeling in his stomach refused to go away.

-.-.-.-

They were in P.E. class when Takaoka hit Midoriya.

Everything in that moment seemed to freeze. He could clearly see the shocked and pained look on his friend’s face, as well as the large man’s cruel grin as he slapped Midoriya to the floor. The quirkless boy had tried to object and argue that Takaoka’s training regimen was too biased and militaristic for middle schoolers, and the large man made his opinion of such protests well known.

“Midoriya!” Nagisa cried out as he rushed to the boy’s side. Hitoshi could only see red after that and stalked up to the man, standing in between him and his friends.

“Get back,” he spat dangerously. Takaoka tilted his head slightly, a crazed look in his eye.

“Oh? You should know better than to give your daddy orders like that, little boy,” he said, licking his lips. He suddenly extended his palm and Hitoshi reached out to control his mind, not even caring if he was about to blatantly expose his quirk for the whole class-

But Takaoka was faster. He grabbed the brainwasher by the back of his neck and forced him down.

Immediately, Hitoshi felt his energy deplete, and though he tried, he couldn’t find the strength to brainwash the monster. He muscles went lax and he felt eight years old again, cornered in the kitchen while his first foster mother smacked him for using his quirk against his siblings. He felt like he was back in elementary school, getting stopped and pushed around by bullies on his way home from school. He felt like a scared twelve-year-old, locked in a closet by his third foster father because he got a B on his report card. He felt how he did when Tomayo Seo reported him and had him humiliated and moved down to E-class.

Pathetic. Useless. _Weak._

His body collapsed under its own weight and he fell face first to the floor. Takaoka laughed mockingly as he walked away. Hitoshi just barely had the strength to lift his head and notice how the man’s muscles had visibly grown, his condescending smile making all the students quake in fear.

“Anyone else have anything they’d like to say? C’mon, we’re a family! Don’t be afraid to speak up!”

No one spoke up. No one even dared breathe. The sociopathic man grinned menacingly.

“Good. 200 push-ups, now!”

-.-.-.-

The training was hell. Takaoka worked them for hours, making them exercise past the level of professional athletes. Anyone who fell behind was immediately disciplined. It seemed the evil man’s quirk allowed him to temporarily take strength from others when he touched their skin, so he would steal the energy of the person just to make them get up again and work. If they took too long, he would hit them with all his — and their — strength until they finally got up.

Korosensei tried to interfere but found his hands tied since it technically wasn’t his responsibility to teach physical education. Their only hope was Karasuma, but he was being oddly passive throughout the whole ordeal.

Then finally, right before Takaoka was about to hit poor Kurahashi, their original P.E. teacher stepped in, grabbing the larger man’s arm and pinning it behind his back. Hitoshi noticed their teacher was wearing leather gloves to protect himself from Takaoka’s quirk.

“That’s enough. I won’t let you hurt my students anymore,” Karasuma says bitingly. The larger man just grinned maniacally.

“What? Don’t like it when you’re not the one running the show, huh?” he mocked before yanking his arm free. “How about this? I’ll let you pick two star students to fight me — with real weapons of course. You don’t kill men with flimsy toys — and we’ll see whose training is superior. I’ll even play nice and fight weaponless.”

The man pulled out two gleaming metal knives, and Hitoshi felt his eyes bulge out of his head. Takaoka was trying to force their teacher to put his students’ health (and possibly even life) on the line for the slim hope they’ll defeat the monster. The situation was laughable. It was clear, judging by Karasuma’s face, that their teacher was just as puzzled. He scanned over the group of students, assessing them each individually. It was a bummer Karma had (wisely) ditched, unsurprisingly disliking Takaoka from the start. He was easily one of the best. After that was probably Isogai and Maehara when it came to knife work, or maybe even Okano—

“Shinsou and Midoriya.”

_...what?_

Hitoshi found himself struggling to remember how to breathe as Karasuma stood in front of them. Midoriya swayed slightly, looking pale and faint. “S-S-Sir?” the green-haired boy said meekly.

“Wha — you’ve gotta be kidding, Karasuma-sensei!” Okajima said, and his classmates echoed his shock, Hitoshi included. Their teacher pressed his lips, firm on his decision.

“I’ve seen you two practicing sparring together before school for the past few weeks, and you’re both easily some of the strongest at hand-to-hand combat. I know I’m asking a lot, and the game changes the moment the weapon is lethal. But you two are our best shot,” their teacher said, holding them each out a knife.

Hitoshi took his weapon, his hands shaking violently. The knife was much heavier than their anti-sensei counterparts. It felt odd, but at the same time…it didn’t feel _wrong._

And that’s what scared him the most.

“A-Actually, Karasuma-sensei,” Midoriya said suddenly. The green-haired boy was staring intently at the weapon in his hand. “I’m honored you would think of me, but I think Nagisa would have a likelier shot than me.”

“WHAT?” many of the students shouted at the same time. Nagisa face had gone completely blank with shock. Shinsou could only stared open-mouthed at his best friend. Had he lost his mind?

“Explain, Midoriya,” Karasuma demanded. Midoriya, face now bright red, shuffled his feet and awkwardly fumbled with the knife as he talked.

“Well, we all know that Takaoka can steal your strength so long as he touches your skin. So, in reality, he just needs to get close enough to hit you, which would explain why he wants us to fight with a combat knife. My...quirk isn’t suited to help me with that, but Nagisa’s is. Combine that with Shinsou’s special weapon—”

“Special weapon?” someone echoed.

“—and they’re sure to succeed.”

They turned back who Nagisa, who scratched the back of his head self-consciously. “I’m not so sure. My misdirection quirk doesn’t really work when the person knows I’m there. It mainly works so I go undetected.”

“But it’s more than that!” Midoriya said, flailing his arms dangerously. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. You said your quirk makes you forgettable, and that’s how you’ve been able to surprise attack people, but there have been times when the person is watching you approach and you still surprise them. I don’t think your quirk is misdirection at all, Nagisa! I think it’s some kind of emotional manipulation quirk.”

Everyone else looked at the green-haired boy like he was crazy, but Hitoshi finally started to see where Midoriya was coming from. “Like empathetic self-projection,” he expounded. “You can make people feel about you however you want. It was probably misdiagnosed as misdirection because your self-esteem is so low, so you made everyone want to overlook you.”

Hitoshi personally didn’t see anything wrong with what he said, but the flabbergasted looks on his classmates’ faces said otherwise. “You don’t need to be so blunt, Shinsou…” Nagisa said, sweatdropping.

“I see what you’re saying,” Karasuma mumbled, interrupting the drama. “The only way to take him down is by catching him off guard, and that’s hard to do when you’re sparring. If Nagisa can force him to lower his defenses, and Shinsou takes the shot to capture him, then maybe we have a shot.”

Nagisa still looked unconfident (and for good reason. He was, after all, being told that everything he thought his quirk was is a lie), so Midoriya just held out the knife to him expectantly. The blue-haired boy hesitated, but after a quiet whisper of reassurance, he reached out to take the weapon. He met Hitoshi’s eye, and the brainwasher slipped on his capture rings with a confident smirk.

“C’mon, Nagisa,” he drawled. “Death awaits.”

-.-.-.-

It didn’t quite dawn on Hitoshi that their entire plan was contingent upon a theory until he was steps away from their enemy.

“Finally decided on your challengers, huh?” Takaoka mocked. “Interesting choices. Looks like the little green one handed me a quick victory with this lineup.”

Rolling his eyes, Hitoshi turned to his partner with a nod of assurance as he put his own knife away. “Go get him, Blue's Clues. I’ll be back here to tie the monster up.”

Nagisa nodded, anxiety projecting so strong that Hitoshi didn’t think Midoriya’s theory was all that crazy anymore. The blue haired boy closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a careless smile on his face, Shinsou felt even himself go still in shock. An eerie chillness settled over him, telling him not to be afraid, lowering his defenses involuntarily. Like something was controlling him — controlling how he felt.

By the time he came to his senses and pulled up his own mental barricades to Nagisa’s quirk, the other boy had already approached Takaoka without consequence and slashing his knife. Takaoka recoiled, allowing Nagisa to knock him to the floor and hold the knife to his neck.

Reacting only because of his own mental blockade, Hitoshi flicked out his hands and sent the capture ropes after Takaoka, successfully wrapping around the man’s arms. The man cried out at the new attack but was too shocked to even struggle. In a matter of seconds, the monster was bound to the floor and blubbering as the two teens held him down, Nagisa’s knife unrelenting.

“I win,” Nagisa said much too cheerfully. All of their classmates and even their teachers gaped in shock, like they couldn’t believe they’d actually won. And frankly, Hitoshi could barely believe it himself.

As Korosensei stepped in to take away their weapons, lecturing on the danger of real knives, Hitoshi released his capture ropes and marched over to Midoriya, who was looking much too shocked for being the mastermind of the operation

“I’m calling bull,” Hitoshi declared, scowling. “There’s no way you’re quirkless. You sure you don’t have an analytical or intelligence quirk, kinda like Karma?”

His best friend laughed bashfully and scratched the back of his head. “Got the foot x-rays to prove it.”

Hitoshi hummed, still not convinced. He was about to press for more information when Takaoka suddenly stood up, lashing out to take multiple students’ strength at once. His muscles grew so much they almost tore his shirt, at the man let out an inhuman roar.

“You dare treat your father like this? I’m the only chance you have at saving the world! Your precious teacher is too soft and never takes the necessary risks to success. Did he tell you he graduated first in his class out of U.A.? He was the most promising student to become a Pro-Hero, won the Sports Festival three years in a row, and now look at him! Just a dog for the military!”

Hitoshi blinked, not sure what to occupy his brain with: the revelation that Karasuma attended his dream school, and was the best in his class nonetheless, or the raging monster in front of him.

Takaoka bared his teeth at them. “I oughta rip you all apart, just so he can watch and realize what a failure he is!”

Just before Takaoka could hold true to his word, Karasuma came out of nowhere and easily knocked the man on his back. “I’m afraid I can’t let that happen. Rest assured, kids, I’m going to take up what has happened here with our superiors and have Takaoka removed as soon as possible.”

Takaoka started wailing profanities and complaints, and Hitoshi was contemplating brainwashing the man to get him to shut up when a hand grasped his shoulder and lightly pushed him out of the way.

“I don’t believe any of that will be necessary,” a deep, charismatic voice said.

Hitoshi felt his blood run cold instantly, and the spot on his shoulder, even after the person stopped touching him, burned hotter than any fire. He felt chills shoot down his spine, paralyzing his entire body. He didn’t have to look to see who it was.

Principal Asano.

-.-.-.-

Though he was aggravatingly acquainted with his son, Hitoshi didn’t meet Principal Asano until the baseball game. Midoriya had gone back to the dugout to grab one of his infamous journals when the man approached him from behind, catching him off guard.

“What an interesting display this all was,” the man said, his voice chilling the brainwasher to the bone. “The ants taking over the animal kingdom. Quite shocking, the disgusting display of it all. And your performance was particularly intriguing, I must say. How you managed to rile up my star pupil, well, it almost alludes me.”

Hitoshi knew he shouldn’t, but the brainwasher couldn’t help but look up, meeting the man’s purple eyes. They were glowing, practically confirming his and Midoriya’s speculations about his quirk. He tried to immediately look away, but the principal reached out and grabbed his shoulder, distracting him from all thoughts of preservation and he just _froze._

“Ah, yes, I remember you now,” the principal hummed. “Shinsou Hitoshi, kicked down to E-class for disciplinary issues with his quirk. Before, you always managed to stay directly in the middle of the pack, despite your _fascinating_ quirk. Son of a wealthy man and an affluent woman; of course, none of that matters now, does it? Your family’s wealth legally covers your tuition and father’s medical bills, but you can’t access it personally until you are eighteen. So unfortunate.”

And now Hitoshi understands how he manipulates people so easily. He gets inside their heads, literally, to the point where you can feel him shifting inside for the information he wants. It’s terrifying and degrading; all the walls he’s spent years building, the secrets he’s worked to keep just taken down in seconds.

But then he remembers Midoriya speculating why Bitch-sensei’s quirk doesn’t have any effect on him, and how it might be caused by the fact that Hitoshi’s mental capacity was stronger because of his superior quirk. And with newfound determination, he reached into his mind and sealed everything off, staring down Principal Asano the entire time.

The principal even looked surprised for a second, the glow in his eyes dimming. He regained himself just as quickly, however, and his eyes started glowing even brighter than before.

“Don’t think you can play games with me boy,” he said dangerously. Hitoshi could feel the man attacking the reinforcements in his brain, and though he tried with all his might, they were disintegrating by the second. Out of pure desperation, he tore his eyes away painfully, grunting as he felt the principal forcibly yanked out of his mind. His mind exploded with pain, a sudden migraine coming on because of the mental battle.

Hitoshi was gritting his teeth in agony when he noticed the principal was lowering himself so his eyes would be level with the brainwashers. The purple-haired boy instinctively shut his eyes, but that didn’t stop the principal from whispering in his ear.

“It doesn’t matter how strong you may be, little Shinsou,” the principal drawled. “In the end, I am the master here, and you are nothing but a dog on a leash. I am the one who controls you.”

And with that, the man stood up straight again, meticulously fixing his suit. Before he walked away he paused, looking down at the brainwasher patronizingly.

“Oh, and if you don’t believe me, don’t forget I know that a thin thread keeps your father alive. It would be a shame if something were to happen to him after all these years of praying he’ll recover.”

The principal then left, leaving the purple-haired boy frozen to his spot.

-.-.-.-

Principal Asano fired Takaoka and literally made the man run away screaming and crying. And as the manipulative principal left in his typical fashion, Hitoshi contemplated doing the same.

Despite it all, Karasuma was reinstated as their physical education teacher, as he should be, and their class returned to their normal level of chaos. Which is typically considered near anarchy, but for them, it was just another day as an E-class assassin.

-.-.-.-

Shinsou wasn’t a particularly big fan of water, so while he appreciated the sentiment when their teacher created then their own swimming hole, he chose to sit off to the side in the shade and just watch.

Everyone got settled in the water pretty quickly. Korosensei perched himself in a chair and was blowing his lifeguard whistle obnoxiously for every little thing when an unidentifiable blur shot out of the water, aimed right for him. The octopus squealed pathetically and just barely dodged out of the way. His screeching only increased, however, when the blur crashed back into the water, splashing him thoroughly.

All movement ceased for a moment before Kataoka surfaced out of the water, flicking her — _tail?_

“Whoa, Kataoka! You’re a mermaid?” Yada fawned, staring at the blue-green tail that practically blended in with the water. The scales cut off at her waist and picked up again mid-torso, covering her chest, shoulders and upper back. Hitoshi blinked multiple times. Well this was unexpected.

“It’s my quirk, clearly” the female class representative explained. “It’s actually a transformation quirk, but it’s only activated when I’m submerged in water. It lets me breathe underwater and swim at lightning speeds. I was hoping I’d be fast enough to catch Korosensei…”

Most of his classmates started gathering around Kataoka to admire her quirk. Okajima looked strangely constipated. “Where do your clothes go…” the pervert asked, earning him a well-deserved smack by Kataoka’s tail.

“A brilliant assassination attempt, nonetheless!” Korosensei said, breaking up the drama. “Though, if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if it involved a little less splashing next time.”

The students turned their heads, ever so slowly, eyeing the octopus like he had started growing tentacles out of his head.

“You can’t get wet?!”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi wasn’t exactly fond of Terasaka and his little gang. In fact, if they weren’t united under the bond of fellowship through assassination, he knew for a fact he would downright despise the lion boy. He represented everything the brainwasher held a grudge against: brawny meatheads who thought anyone without an offensive physical quirk was weak and useless.

So when the juvenile punk challenged the class to join him in some whack assassination attempt at the new pool after class, Hitoshi was dead set on not even lifting a finger to help. Terasaka had refused to assist in any of their past joint attempts in killing Korosensei; he was just returning the favor.

The brainwasher was, however, totally down for standing on the sidelines and watching it fail.

“You seem awfully confident in this embarrassingly obvious assassination attempt,” he stated bluntly from his perch on a rock behind Terasaka. The lion boy had been barking orders at their classmates in the water the entire time. “You do realize there’s, like, zero chance of this succeeding. Korosensei would never just let you push him in the water, one of his main weaknesses.”

The lion boy growled deeply. “Shut up, you eggplant freak! If you’re just going to be a pain in the ass and not help, you can leave.”

“Oh, no, I’m good. I take extreme pleasure in witnessing the humiliation of others, actually. One of my many kinks.”

The brainwasher was just pulling on the boy’s leg at this point, but Terasaka was just such an easy target. He was stupid and hotheaded — the perfect target for condescending smartasses like Hitoshi. He couldn’t help it.

“What, not a fan of an audience, Terasaka? We just wanted to witness the brilliant plan that would bring an end to Korosensei, that’s all,” Karma mocked. He too had opted out of assisting and was sitting on the rock next to Hitoshi.

Terasaka bared his sharp teeth at the devilish duo and got back to yelling at his classmates down below. It wasn’t long before Korosensei finally showed up, green-striped and cocky. Hitoshi settled back, eager for the show.

But then Terasaka pulled out a strange looking gun and pulled the trigger, and instead of shooting a bullet, a loud explosion echoed. In seconds, the dam creating the pool was gone, and his classmates were being swept away by the water.

Korosensei took off immediately, frantically pulling students out of the water. Hitoshi stood up and ran to the edge, watching powerlessly as his friends were swept away. To his horror, he saw Midoriya’s head bob in and out of the water, the boy gasping for air as he struggled to stay afloat. Kataoka tried to swim against the tide to rescue those around her, but not even her tail was strong enough to fight against the current. They were all helplessly headed for the waterfall, and Hitoshi couldn’t do a thing about it.

More furious than he had ever been in his life — even more when Takaoka hit Midoriya — Hitoshi spun around and sent Terasaka to the ground with an expert punch.

“What the hell was that?!” he spat, grabbing the boy by the collar and rearing back to punch him again. The lion boy held his furred palms up defensively.

“I…I didn’t know! T-They didn’t tell me,” he sputtered, looking genuinely shocked. Hitoshi sneered, tightening his grip on the shirt.

“Who’s they?!”

“It was Itona and that Shiro dude! They made a deal with me, but Itona was just supposed to help me push the octopus in, I swear!”

“You never had a plan, huh?” Karma asked, appearing next to Hitoshi’s side. He pulled the brainwasher back, forcing him to let go of the lion-boy. “You just let yourself be a pawn in a game of chess without knowing who your true opponent was.”

“They played me for an idiot, okay? I never knew this was going to happen — I wouldn’t have helped them if I did! This wasn’t my plan!” the lion-boy said defensively. Karma, calm and controlled as ever, just punched Terasaka in the face himself.

“Well, idiot. It may not be your plan, but now it is your responsibility. So you can sit here and sulk, or you can man up and figure out how to fix this.”

-.-.-.-

Korosensei was saving the last few students when Itona struck, knocking the now-soaked octopus out of the air. The students went flying, and Hitoshi’s quick reaction let him reach out with his capture invention. They wrapped around Midoriya’s wrist and waist and retracted, pulling him back to land. When he came into reach, the brainwasher grabbed Midoriya’s arms and steadied him.

“Tha-Thanks,” the green-haired boy said breathlessly. Hitoshi wrapped an arm around Midoriya’s shoulders to help him stand.

“You can thank me later, Jolly Green. I think there are more pressing matters right now,” he said, eyeing the battle below.

Their teacher’s tentacles were red and swollen due to the water, and his usual mucus wasn’t protecting him because of a strange chemical bomb Terasaka had set off earlier that week. That, and his attention was still divided between rescuing those last few students who were holding on for dear life. For once, it seemed like Korosensei might actually be killed.

Hitoshi was not okay with it.

He was two hundred percent done with Itona and his annoying handler, Shiro, interfering with everything, and it was high time someone finally showed them why you don’t mess with 3-E’s target.

“Turnip-Head. Devil-Boy,” Terasaka said, sneering down at the battle below as he walked to where the class was standing. “You two always seem to think you’re so smart. Well, like you said, I’m not good at anything but being a pawn in someone else’s game. You guys be the brain, and I’ll be the brawn.”

“This is a pretty sudden change of heart,” Hitoshi argued. “How do we even know we can trust you?”

“C’mon, man. I’m offering to be a puppet and let you be the puppet master. Just help me out here so I can fix this mess!”

Hitoshi cocked his head to the side, exchanging glances with Karma. Well, if there was one thing he was good at, it was being a puppet master.

Karma shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know, _man._ We can be pretty devious if we want to be. Who’s to say you can take it?”

Terasaka smirked. “Try me.”

The devilish boy hummed, smirking. “Well, it’s quite simple, if you ask me. There’s no way they’d let any of us die — the repercussions would be too costly. You go down there and distract Itona, it’ll give Korosensei just enough time to save Hara from the branch.”

“We should probably send someone down there to distract Shiro as well. He’s clearly the controlling Itona’s every move; with him preoccupied, tentacle boy won’t know what to do,” Hitoshi added contemplatively.

“So, what? You’re planning on sending a couple of us down there to just get smacked around until Korosensei saves Hara?” Nakamura asked.

“Of course not,” Karma said teasingly. “Terasaka’s a big boy; I’m sure he can take a hit. And assuming he didn’t take a shower last night — no offense, of course — there’s still some of that weird chemical in his mane and fur. Itona so much as touches it, and he’ll be losing the protective mucus like sweat.”

“Yeah, okay, but who’s going to get past Itona and go after Shiro?” Nagisa questioned. Hitoshi smiled and threw an arm around Midoriya.

“Glad you asked. Jolly Green will,” he said, giving the quirkless boy a shake. Midoriya’s mouth fell open and he turned deathly pale.

“M-Me?!” he squeaked. “But-But-But-But—”

The brainwasher sighed. “But nothing. You’ve trained against my capture invention. Dodging Itona’s tentacles will be a piece of cake.”

Midoriya looked contemplative, the color returning to his skin. “You really think so?” he asked timidly. Goodness, this boy needed serious confidence therapy. The kid hands Hitoshi his ass every morning (not that the brainwasher would ever admit that out loud) and he’s still self-conscious about his abilities?

“Yes. Now can we stop debating and start moving? Hara can only hold on for so much longer.”

-.-.-.-

His and Karma’s plan, unsurprisingly, worked perfectly. Terasaka jumped down in front of Itona, roaring and demanding a fight. While the tentacle boy was preoccupied with the lion, Midoriya dodged the remaining tentacles and started dueling Shiro. Before Itona could move to protect his handler, however, Korosensei had recovered Hara and the E-class students started jumping in the water to splash his tentacles. Like Karma predicted, the chemicals leftover on Terasaka fur affected the boy just like it did their teacher, and Itona’s tentacles started swelling up as well.

Midoriya successfully managed to knock Shiro back, using a tree branch as his weapon. Despite appearing weaponless, the white-cloaked man could surprisingly hold his own in a fight. He dodged and countered all of the green-haired boy’s attacks until Midoriya managed to catch him off guard with a kick at his chest. Shiro stumbled backward, his beady purple eyes cold and calculating.

“You’re surprisingly skilled, child. And your purple friend was quite perspective, having someone distract me and leave Itona on his own, exploiting the fact that the boy is dependent on my commands and instructions. You have promise…” Shiro mused to himself.

Suddenly, the man reached into his robs and lashed out with a thin, metal weapon. It looked suspiciously like a needle injector. It nicked the green-haired boy’s arm, drawing just barely a dot of blood. Midoriya jumped back instinctively and Hitoshi ran to protect his friend from any more oncoming attacks.

Shiro, however, seemed to have a different agenda in mind. He put the strange piece of metal back in his robe and turned to look at his distraught protégé, his eyes bored. “Unfortunately, I will have to explore more into this at a later date. A shame, really — so many of you students really are promising aspects. Itona, let’s go. Our fight here is done.”

The white-cloaked man began to walk away, and seconds later his disgruntled tentacle boy followed, leaving them yet again. Though, as Hitoshi inspected the small cut on Midoriya’s arm, he couldn’t ignore the sickening feeling that they hadn’t seen the last of those two.

And if the looks Shiro had been giving the green-haired boy were anything to go by, it was about to get a lot worse.

-.-.-.-

Though before they could worry about psychopathic men in white taking an unsettling interest in Midoriya, they had to worry about end-of-term exams first. Which not only meant the stress of trying to do well with the exam and redeem themselves, but the threat of Korosensei’s deal with them was starting to loom, more ominous than ever.

Korosensei had said they had to use their quirk in an assassination attempt against them or else. Hitoshi had pushed it off, wanting to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. Now he was regretting his life decisions.

Karasuma held another Quirk Training class to help those still needing to meet Korosensei’s deal. There were about ten of them, and it seemed like everyone was about to lose their minds. They gathered in a big circle with the intent to give those in need of advice for assassination, but it had turned into a sulking party for those left; most of them were even laying face first on the ground, accepting their defeat and early death.

“When Korosensei said ‘extreme consequences’, he wasn’t being serious, was he?” Fuwa said miserably. The other ten in the same boat as her groaned helplessly. Midoriya looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and Hitoshi leaned against him, hoping to calm him down.

“Oh, c’mon guys!” Isogai said, speaking up encouragingly. “It can’t be that bad. I’m sure with the right planning, you can come up with a brilliant assassination plot.”

“Oh yeah?” Nakamura muttered sarcastically. “How do you propose you kill someone with Omni-linguism, then? Shock him to death with my amazing language skills?”

“Or Ink Animation? Make the girls in his porn magazines start moving and kill him with ecstasy?” Sugaya added miserably.

Isogai, along with many of their other classmates, visibly flinched. “Well, what about the rest of you?” their male representative asked, determined as ever. He scanned the remaining classmates intimidatingly, silently commanding them to speak up.

Yada shrugged. “My quirk is actually pretty similar to Bitch-sensei’s. It’s called Persuasion, and it lets me encourage people to do what I want. It’s not as strong as hers though, and it rarely works. The person has to be totally distracted for it to do so.”

Hara, who was sitting next in line, sighed dejectedly. “My quirk is really embarrassing, honestly,” she said, blushing lightly. “It’s called Goat Bite. I can basically eat and chew anything and it won’t cause my mouth or digestive system any harm.”

“Explains a lot,” Terasaka mumbled. Unfortunately for the jerk, Hara heard and stared him down evilly, like she was thinking of demonstrating her quirk by chewing the lion-boy’s head off.

“Um, let’s move on please,” Isogai said desperately.

Takebayashi was next. His quirk was called Statistic and let him analyze situations at top speeds and spew out statistics on a little slip of paper out of his belly button like a receipt. It was the freakiest yet strangely coolest thing Hitoshi had ever seen.

Fuwa was after that. Her quirk, History Trace, was actually pretty cool in theory. It let her know the twenty-four-hour history of any item she touched, which explained her obsession for detective work. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much obvious use for it when it came to killing Korosensei.

The silent sharpshooters, Chiba and Hayami were next. They exchanged an unreadable look (mainly because you couldn’t actually see Chiba’s eyes) before the boy shrugged. “We’ve honestly have been using our quirks to kill Korosensei since the beginning,” he admitted.

The class gawked at them. “What?!” many of them shouted, sounding hilariously scandalized by the thought. Chiba just shrugged again.

“My quirk doesn’t turn off. It’s called Eye for Detail. My eyes automatically point out the smallest details and variables, kind of like those cheesy crime shows. It’s why I’m good at shooting.”

Midoriya was writing frantically in his quirk journals, his previous distress at least temporarily forgotten. Hayami nodded, crossing her arms.

“My quirk is Equilibrium Control. I can control the balance levels in myself and those I touch. I use it to give me a steady hand when I shoot,” the pigtailed girl explained briskly.

There was a moment of silence that passed over the class. “Well, I guess that’s two less to worry about. Uh, no offense, guys,” Maehara said. Those in question just groaned again.

“What about you two?” Nagisa asked, looking at Hitoshi and Midoriya. “It’s kind of weird, considering how much you two have helped with everything, yet you haven’t revealed your quirks yet.”

Kataoka nodded. “Don’t you guys want to be heroes? I don’t mean to stereotype, but typically people like that are eager to show off their quirks.”

Midoriya clammed up immediately, visibly drawing into himself. Hitoshi felt torn. As much as he wanted his friend to open up to their classmates and realize there was no way they would reject him for being quirkless, he knew Midoriya’s mental scars extended far enough that revealing his secret was near impossible for him. Midoriya had confided in him one morning after sparing that he wanted to tell everyone, but any time he thought about it he couldn’t help but remember his old school, where he was ostracized and bullied every day for being quirkless.

So, like an idiot, Hitoshi just let his mouth run.

“I don’t know what Jolly Green here has planned, but my quirk is the kind best kept a secret. But pay attention during lunch today, and I’ll show you exactly what I can do when I kill Korosensei.”

Like he said. An idiot.

-.-.-.-

True to his word, Hitoshi walked straight up to Korosensei during lunch. He tried to ignore the burning stares of his anxiously awaiting classmates.

“Korosensei?” he asked smoothly, proud of how well he was keeping his cool despite the nerves eating up his stomach. “I have a question on this algebra formula you taught us. Can you clarify it for me?”

The teacher looked up from his terribly hidden porn magazine, grinning as always. “Of course, Shin—”

The moment they appeared, Hitoshi grabbed control of Korosensei’s mental strings. No time to think of the consequences now. His classmates were bound to learn of how terrifying his quirk was sooner or later. Better get it over with now.

“Take this gun and shoot yourself in the head.”

And to his shock and horror, as well as that of his peers, their teacher did.

The octopus dropped limp like a ragdoll, landing face (or what was left of his face) first on his desk. His tentacles were sprawled out, not constantly twitching like usual. His body looked like it was actually starting to deflate.

Hitoshi felt an itch in the back of his throat and realized it was the urge to scream. This wasn’t supposed to actually _work._

He had pondered on the possibility of doing this ever since they were given the task to kill Korosensei; at the time, he didn’t fully understand his quirk and its true potential, so he mainly brushed it off as impossible. But as he explored more of his limitations with Midoriya, it began to settle in on him that commanding someone to kill themselves might actually be possible. The shock that would normally knock them out of the control would come after they died, after all.

And that terrified him.

Because it was just one more reason for him to be seen as a villain.

There was no doubt his classmates saw him like that now. He just killed their teacher, the man they’ve been targeting for half a year, just by telling him to die. He really was a monster.

But then Korosensei shot back to life, inhaling deeply and snapping upright like a zombie.

Hitoshi did scream this time. Thankfully he was not alone. Midoriya even passed out and crashed to the floor.

“Impressive job, Shinsou! I’ve never felt a brainwashing quirk that strong before! Truly incredible,” their teacher complimented, seemingly unfazed by the fact he just _rose from the dead._ “Unfortunately for you, as I’m sure you’ve all gathered this year, I can’t be killed like normal people. For me, that was like hitting a reset button, and now I feel more invigorated than ever!”

Hitoshi felt his knees almost give out. Nagisa, who had been standing next to him, sweat-dropped harshly. “Only you would gain energy from dying…”

“Was…Was that really your quirk, Shinsou?” Kanzaki asked, shuffling nervously. Hitoshi tensed and willed himself to not turn around, keeping his head bowed low. He knew if he looked, he’d just see how terrified they are of him now. They now know him for the monster he truly is.

“That’s so amazing, dude!” Maehara said, clapping him on the back encouragingly. Hitoshi froze.

_What?_

He cautiously looked up and turned around. To his shock, instead of finding trepidation and fear, his classmates were smiling and cheering him on. They weren’t flinching when he looked at them or swearing to never speak to him again; they were openly admiring him and asking him multiple questions on how his quirk worked.

“Why’d you keep it hidden for so long, man? Your quirk is totally sick!” Mimura exclaimed. The Record quirk boy was playing the assassination attempt with his eye projector so everyone could see it again. “Look how fast it worked! It’s insane!”

Yada nodded, sighing wistfully. “It’s so powerful too. You can actually control their mind and every move. I wish my quirk was that strong…”

“Why did you take so long to use it, Shinsou?” Nagisa asked, looking very concerned.

Hitoshi blinked, fiddling with his fingers. “I guess…well, save for my parents, everyone else has always been afraid of my quirk. I don’t have a very good track record in terms of classmate reactions.”

He felt someone grab his hand; Midoriya had risen from his state of shock and was gripping his fingers comfortingly. The caring smiles coming from his classmates made his knees want to give out again, but for a very different reason. Korosensei reached out and placed a tentacle on his shoulder, looking…was that pride?

“If there’s one thing I hope everyone here will learn in my class, it’s that your quirk doesn’t define who you are. It’s what you do with it that does. Never forget that,” the octopus said, turning his attention to the entire class. “Everyone else may judge you strictly on how offensive or ‘good’ your abilities are, but I know you, my students, aren’t like everyone else. You’re assassins.”

For the first time since both of his parents were with him, Hitoshi stood tall and proud. He could feel Midoriya shaking with sobs, and he tightened his grip on his hand; a silent comfort and encouragement. If there was any time for the green-haired boy to reveal he was quirkless, it was—

“Hey!” Bitch-sensei called out suddenly, completely interrupting the moment.

_Goddammit._

The blonde teacher pushed through the students, a deep scowl on her face. She got extremely close to Hitoshi’s face, her boobs coming too close for comfort. “Is this why you were unaffected to my quirk? Because besides broken-nosed Karasuma over there, no man has _ever_ been able to resist me.”

Said dark-haired man sighed deeply. “Leave the boy alone,” he said, though it fell on deaf ears. The woman just got closer, her boobs centimeters away from suffocating him. Hitoshi leaned back in pure desperation.

“Um, I guess so? Midoriya says since my mind control is stronger than yours, it might make me more resilient to other mind quirks.”

The foreign assassin’s face went blank for a brief second before turning sour, a vein popping out of her forehead. She growled, her hands raised and ready to grab him. “Well you just think you’re so cool, don’t you?”

Thankfully, Karasuma stepped in just in time to save him from the odd suffocation punishment Bitch-sensei was about to give him. Hitoshi exhaled, his shoulders sagging, only too immediately tense up when he felt a familiar devilish aura behind him.

“Brainwashing huh?” Karma said, grinning deviously. “I can think of quite a few uses for that…”

-.-.-.-

Leaving for school the next morning, Hitoshi opened the door and came face-to-face with Bitch-sensei.

He immediately slammed the door in her face.

“Hey, you little punk! Get back out here!” she screamed, banging on the door. Instantly, his foster mother popped her head in from her room.

“Someone open the damn door and tell the annoying hag to go away already! And don’t make me ask twice!” she shouted. Hitoshi withheld a wince and opened the door again, instantly slapping a hand over his teacher’s mouth so she’d stop screaming as he slipped outside.

“Why are you here?” he asked bluntly after he closed the door behind him. Bitch-sensei shoved his hand away dramatically.

“I’m here because I have a proposition to make you,” she said. Hitoshi blinked slowly.

“No.”

He brushed past her, and unsurprisingly she came running after him seconds later.

“No? You haven’t even heard what I have to say yet! Stop walking so fast, you grape-colored brat!”

Shinsou was totally content with ignoring her the entire walk to school; he was very skilled at pretending people never existed. However, he found out seconds later, it was very hard to ignore someone when they grabbed your face and started kissing you.

_What the hell?_

His eyes were blown wide open as his mouth was assaulted by the blonde assassin. It took him an embarrassing amount of time to process what was happening before he shoved her away and tried to deliver a quick kick to her stomach, which she blocked.

“I knew it!” she declared. “You’re totally not straight!”

Hitoshi flared up a brighter red than Karma’s hair, vigorously trying to wipe his mouth clean. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

“It was the first reason I assumed you were unaffected by my quirk — of course, it doesn’t make much sense, since Nagisa and Karma are both affected by my quirk, and have you seen the looks those two give each other? Seriously, just kiss already or something.”

“Why are you talking to me about this? Can you please leave already?”

His teacher seemed to pretend she didn’t hear him. “I also get a bit of a vibe from Izuku too — wow, are all you gay? Is it the rainbow hair colors?”

“Can you shut up already?” he said, using his quirk for a split second to cut off her train of thought and give her a warning. He released her quickly, and she turned to him, rolling her eyes.

“No need to get so offended. Sexual orientation doesn’t matter in the realm of assassination. All that matters is that you use your best assets to kill your target,” she said. “Which is what I’m here to talk to you about. It’s not every day you come across another mind controller. I want to train you.”

Shinsou tripped over his own feet. “What? No. No way.”

“No? I’m offering to make you a better assassin, brat! Do you not want to kill your teacher and save the world?”

“I don’t see how _your_ type of assassination will help me kill Korosensei. Sure, we’re both brainwashers I guess, but yours is seduction based. Go ask Yada or something, hers is kind of similar.”

“Yada’s quirk is too weak compared to ours, and you know that. Her’s is a butter knife while ours are more like scalpels,” Bitch-sensei argued. “Besides, your quirk is every bit more seduction based, if not more. How do you expect to lure your target into speaking with you, especially if they know the circumstances surrounding your quirk? You need to use your charisma and charm to make it impossible for them to _not_ want to respond to you. I can teach you that.”

Hitoshi paused for a second. His quirk, while incredibly powerful, was easily compromised. He was great at getting those ignorant of it to talk, but everyone else with a sense of preservation was close-lipped. Maybe Bitch-sensei had a point.

“One,” he finally said. “You get one lesson. If I don’t like it, or you spend the entire time trying to molest me, I will not accept the next time.”

The blonde assassin grinned. “Sounds like a deal.”

-.-.-.-

To encourage them to excel on their exams, Korosensei offered them a deal. For every test E-class had someone get the top score in, that person would get to shoot off one of his tentacles. That meant they had the opportunity to take out six tentacles: mathematics, English, social studies, Japanese, science, and a brand-new test, quirks.

Needless to say, there was a mixed feeling of excitement and stress going around the classroom, with added pressure on those known to excel in certain topics. It was up in the air whether Nakamura or Nagisa would be able to claim the English spot; there were high hopes for Isogai, Okuda, and Kanzaki in social studies, science, and Japanese, respectively. Karma and Midoriya were their unknown weapons, who had the potential to sweep multiple subjects if they _wanted_ to (that, being the concern regarding Karma, who was too lazy and stubborn to study).

The one that still had everyone on edge was this mysterious quirk exam. It was new to the curriculum, with the board of education claiming that, as a prestigious school known for sending students to schools like U.A., it was their responsibility that students were tested on all necessary subjects. For E-class, however, it felt like another tactic to bring them down.

“They know the majority of us were sent here because our quirks failed to pass their evaluations,” Sugaya noted miserably. “This is just condemning us to the bottom spots again.”

“What does a quirk exam even mean?” Okano wondered. “The entrance evaluations just involved a teacher’s personal assessment of our quirk, and it was always super biased. Is it going to be something like that?”

“I got a call from Shindo earlier giving us a heads up,” Sugino piped up. “Rumor on the main campus is that it’s going to be an evaluation similar to the entrance exam, except it’s going to be Principal Asano and two Pro-Heroes doing the evaluation. There are supposedly three parts, one for each judge, but no one is sure what the parts are yet.”

“Three parts?” Midoriya squeaked, looking sick to his stomach. Hitoshi understood his pain. The boy was still traumatized from his entrance exam evaluation; having to go through three more was a death sentence.

“Never fear, students!” Korosensei said, appearing out of nowhere. “I’ve added specialized videos of every Pro-Hero’s quirk in action, as well as a summary of quirk theory to prepare you for any outcome of this quirk exam! My speed doubles will ensure you are well-prepared for any obstacle in any subject for this test — of course, it’s still up to your individual work ethic if you are going to come out victorious. By the time exams are done, that Machiavellian principal won’t know what hit him!”

-.-.-.-

To make the pressure even worse, E-class nonsensically got roped into a bet against A-class: whichever class got the most people to rank first in the six subjects got to make one demand for the other. And it was kind of hard to remain optimistic about a deal like this when they had to go against the Five Virtuosos.

“I’m kind of worried about the English test to be completely honest. Korosensei recommended a lot of great reading to prepare, but there were just so many! I guess I shouldn’t be too concerned, both Nakamura and Nagisa have a shoe-in for the top spot, assuming they can take down Seo. Did you know he lived in America for a little bit? He’s probably really fluent. But then there’s still Nakamura’s quirk, though I’m not quite sure how it works yet…” Midoriya rambled as he and Hitoshi exited the library after a class study session.

The brainwasher nodded absentmindedly, his attention more drawn to the four people waiting at the bottom of the staircase.

“You seem fairly confident in your classmates’ abilities, Quirkless,” Seo commented as they tried to pass. “Just to clarify, I am _very_ fluent. You E-class failures won’t stand a chance. Hope you’re ready, because you’ll be licking our shoes once we win the bet.”

Though Hitoshi was content with ignoring them, Midoriya came to an abrupt stop, scowling. “We’re entitled to good grades so long as we work hard, just like you guys. Your little deal doesn’t scare us — just all the more reason to kick your butts on the finals.”

Araki laughed mockingly, pushing his glasses up his nose. “How cute, you think you can actually best us,” he crowed, using his height to stare the quirkless boy down. “Face it, Quirkless. You might have some auspicious prospects amongst your crowd, but when it comes down to it, you’re still just E-class — hardly a threat to people like us. We’re going to win this bet with our eyes closed.”

“Bet?” a smooth, cold voice said. Everyone jumped and saw the king of the Virtuosos himself approaching. “I don’t recall ever making a bet.”

“A-Asano!” Koyama jumped, holding his hands up in surrender. “We-We-We were just—”

“No need to get so tongue-tied, Koyama,” Asano said. He reached out to the shaking boy and poked him in between his eyes. The act alone almost made Koyama pass out. “Oh? You made a little deal with E-class, trying to see who will come out on top. Winner gets to make the other do what they want. Clever plan. We certainly won’t lose, then.”

“Don’t sound so sure of yourself,” Hitoshi stated, eyeing the Five Virtuosos with as much disdain as possible. Asano met his stare, smirking arrogantly.

“Is that so?” he taunted before turning to his accomplices and waving them away. “If you four could leave us, I have business to discuss with our E-class pals.”

“But—” Seo started to object, but stopped when Sakakibara stepped forward.

“You heard the man,” the school philanderer said. “You know better than to disobey what he says.”

The four remaining Virtuosos complied begrudgingly. Asano waited until they left before his smirk grew, his gaze turning intense and hostile.

“So what is it with you, E-class?” he spat. “It’s almost like you have something to hide.”

Hitoshi froze, his eyes bulging and teeth gritting together. Midoriya — having learned from past experiences — drew back, making sure he was well out of Asano’s reach. The action only seemed to amuse the manipulative boy.

“What’s with that look? I couldn’t be right, could I? After all, what can possibly be so fascinating about E-class?” he asked, his tone sounding innocent, but the demented glint in his eyes was far from it. “Yes, if my father’s increasing obsession is anything to go by, there appears to be a growing fascination about you and your classmates. The question is, what is it?

“There’s no denying that something odd has been brewing recently, ever since that tentacle freak blew up the moon. Unconfirmed sightings of him everywhere, a spike in crime rates, a decrease of the people's confidence in their precious heroes. Not even All-Might has been able to resort peace. And for some unfathomable reason, I can’t help but feel 3-E is at the heart of at all.”

Asano’s arm shot out, his hand making a sweep for Hitoshi’s neck. The brainwasher dodged expertly and countered the attack by stopping the ginger’s arm with his own. He was immensely grateful his signature mismatched E-class uniform had long sleeves, keeping Asano from getting what he wanted. The manipulative boy gritted his teeth and made a swipe with his foot, which was just dodged again.

Hitoshi had to give it to him; Asano’s fighting skills weren’t half bad — for someone who wasn’t a trained assassin, that is.

Using the boy’s unbalanced momentum against him, Hitoshi knocked him to the side with his elbow. Asano stumbled back, nearly falling on the floor. The murderous look on his face made it clear he was less than pleased, but Hitoshi couldn’t care less. Scratching the back of his neck habitually, the brainwasher stared the A-class genius down with his signature smirk.

“That is quite strange, Asano. Maybe you should ask your father about it, huh?” He chuckled sharply. “Oh, wait, that’s right. It’s not exactly a _secret_ that your father isn’t the most tactile with you. What, does father dearest not let you touch him because he wants to keep his secrets hidden? Doesn’t offer his time or affection? Such a shame.”

It was a low blow, and it made him a downright hypocrite — it’s not like he exactly had parents anxiously awaiting to dote him with love — but Hitoshi couldn’t bring himself to care. And while he was probably making things worse for E-class if they did lose the bet, it didn’t really matter in the long run.

Because there was no way they were going to lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguisim  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control
> 
> In a nutshell: Shinsou has a traumatizing past, Takaoka is even more traumatizing, Nagisa’s quirk isn’t what everyone (including Nagisa himself) thought, Principal Asano is a creep with a vested interest in Shinsou, Itona makes a reappearance and Shiro is a creep too who poked Izuku with a needle. Weirdo. Then the remainder of E-class reveals their quirks (except Izuku…), Shinsou tries to kill Korosensei and is scarred for life, a lot of bets and deals are made, sexuality and training are discussed, and Asano Jr needs a hug.


	5. To Defy the Odds (Ep. 16-18)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG thank you everyone who commented and gave such amazing input/recommendations last chapter! I loved so many of them and chose to use a lot of them, even changing aspects of this very chapter. Shoutouts to those who inspired me will be in the end notes!
> 
> Feel free to keep sending me concepts/ideas you'd like to see in this book or the sequel (which will follow the bnha storyline), I really do love them. I can't include everything obviously, but I'll try my best!

This was it. Midoriya Izuku was going to die.

He could already feel his spirit starting to leave him; his heart rate was slowing; his vision being overridden by this incredible light he was just so desperate to accept —

“Again, Izuku.”

— and then that light was replaced by the disheartening gaze of Lovro, clearly done with all of Izuku’s bullshit. The green-haired boy groaned, covering his face with his hands. Every bit of his body felt sore. The foreign assassin had deemed him ready to duel today, but as each fight ended with Izuku on the ground in seconds, it seemed he was a little off.

“What is wrong with you?” Lovro demanded, scowling deeply. “Your training was exceeding my expectations, and now you are worse than where you started. Where is your head?”

Izuku sighed, wincing as he pulled himself off the ground. He was definitely going to feel this tomorrow — and the entire week following.

“I guess I’m just a little distracted today,” he admitted. “End-of-term exams are coming up, and there’s just so much pressure added on. Korosensei is offering up a chance to take off a tentacle if we get first in the school on a subject, and at the same time, we made a bet with A-class over who could claim the most top spots. To make matters worse, they added a Quirk Exam, which is just a one-way ticket to my grave — _ouch_!”

Mid-ramble, the older man had reached out and smacked Izuku in the face, knocking him to the floor again. The professional assassin sighed. “You really are distracted. You should have been able to stop that hit before it ever came,” Lovro tsked before turning around and grabbing his coat off the tree where it was hanging. “This is going nowhere. We will meet up again when you are no longer worrying about such trivial issues.”

“Mr. Lovro! You can’t go yet! And besides, they’re not _trivial._ These are real, life or death situations here! If we get a lot of top spots, we protect ourselves from a life of servitude to 3-A, _and_ we increase our chances of killing Korosensei exponentially — which means saving the world, might I remind you. You can’t get mad at me for worrying about — stop trying to hit me!”

This time, Izuku did manage to block the hit but only last second. Lovro rolled his eyes and retracted his fist. “That isn’t what’s distracting you,” he said, and Izuku quirked his eyebrow, wondering what the old man was alluding to because _uh, yes it was._

The professional assassin adjusted his fedora, scowling. “You are paranoid about the Quirk Exam. There’s no need, for you won’t pass it anyway.”

Izuku just blanched, mouth wide open. “S-Sir?!”

“You’ve said so yourself, Izuku. You’re quirkless. In a Quirk Exam, you have nothing to present, so you will not pass. This is inevitable,” the assassin continued harshly, having no concern for his student’s already fragile mental state. “However, I am one of the greatest assassins to have ever lived, and my protégés always live up to my name. I do not train failures, Midoriya Izuku. You will go out there and show them every ability you have; treat assassination as your quirk. And while it may be impossible for you to pass it, you _will not_ fail to make the judges remember you. Do you understand?”

Izuku nodded viciously, his newfound determination sparked by his teacher’s words. “Y-Yes!”

-.-.-.-

He walked out of the testing room side-by-side with Shinsou, feeling more anxious than he had going in. They had just completed the tests for their five usual core subjects, and now it was time for the mysterious Quirk Exam. And while Lovro’s words gave him the resolve to keep walking, it didn’t make him want to throw up any less.

For the test, they were separated at random to take the different parts at separate times. Izuku’s group was led into a standard testing room by one of the Kunugigaoka teachers that he vaguely recognized; his quirk seemed to have something to do with eyes, if the hundreds of eyeballs littering his body were anything to go by. The mask around his mouth made him wonder if there was even one on his tongue.

“Hurry up and take a seat,” the teacher ordered, and the students quickly complied. The man instantly started passing out a thick packet to everyone. “I will be monitoring the quirk theory test. It is a written test, and you have thirty minutes to complete it. Do not bother trying to cheat — my eyes see everything.”

Izuku blinked, feeling the weight of the test in his hand. Thirty minutes to complete all of _this?_

The teacher hit a button, triggering the countdown on the board. “You may begin.”

It was like a gunshot for a race went off. Students frantically started opening their packets, some accidentally tearing the pages or throwing their pencils in the process. Izuku turned to the first passage, followed by a series of questions, and began reading.

_Quirks are passed down genetically, acting as both a dominant and recessive gene, which varies from quirk to quirk. Dominant genes make the quirks strength increase and limitations decreases, while recessive genes restrict the capabilities. Every quirk has a combination of two genes._

_One with two dominant genes for their genetic makeup can result in three outcomes: a powerful two-part quirk, with both parents’ dominate gene quirks presenting (extremely rare), a powerful quirk drawn strictly from one parent (common), or a case where one parent’s quirk shows but the other dominant gene contradict the one that presents, causing the overall quirk to weaken (uncommon)._

_One dominant and one recessive, which is the most common outcome, results in the parent who donates the dominant gene’s quirk to present, but is typically weaker due to the added recessive gene, and increases the restricts on the quirk, as the quirk will often draw on the recessive gene’s restrictions._

_Two recessive gene quirks can result in two outcomes: one parent’s quirk presenting but with extreme limitations on said quirk, or when two recessive genes together will balance each other out to create a powerful new quirk._

_Question 1. When a quirk is a mutation, meaning not coming from or a combination of the parents’ quirks, what is the genetic makeup?_

Izuku paused, his eyes skimming over the passage again to make sure he read it right. But, sure enough, there was nothing directly relating to the question in the passage. He skimmed the rest of the questions following the passage and found the same thing. Was he missing something here, or—

 _Or_ was this exactly what the test makers wanted? They wanted to make the student panic, giving them a huge packet with large passages and indirectly correlating questions to slow them down. It was just a decoy. If he was going to take this test, all his knowledge would have to come from his head.

But lucky for Izuku, no one knew quirk theory better.

Ignoring the lengthy passages of text, he jumped straight to the questions, zooming through them at speeds that would make Korosensei proud. Subtly glancing around, he noticed that the students around him were still stuck on the first few questions, struggling to figure out that it was just a decoy. And those that did likely didn’t know enough quirk theory to answer the questions on their own.

The only other people going as fast as him were his fellow 3-E classmates. Korosensei had thoroughly reviewed them on hundreds of examples of quirk theory and development, making sure they could tell every possible offspring quirk possibility when given to subjects, or that they could give methodical analysis on almost any type of quirk — much of which they’ve already learned how to do during their Quirk Training classes.

As Izuku approached his last few questions while those around him had barely gotten past the first page, he smirked. _Bring it on._

-.-.-.-

Despite it all, his confidence faltered the moment they moved onto part two.

It turned out, the rumors about the test being three parts was misleading information. While there were three separate portions, students only had to take two of the three: the written test, and either the offensive practical or the evaluation practical. Which meant Izuku had to make a choice.

Should he attempt the offensive practical and use the assassination and combat skills he had learned over the year (but also risking being squished and utterly humiliated if the test absolutely required abnormal capabilities), or should he go into the evaluation and try to pass of his analysis skills as a type of quirk (also risking utter humiliation)?

Where was Shinsou when he needed him? The plainspoken boy would normally be able to give him a blunt, painfully obvious solution Izuku couldn’t see when he was panicking. But, unfortunately, they had been separated at the beginning of the exam process.

“You coming, Midoriya?” Sugino asked, motioning for the green-haired boy to join him in the line to go to the offensive practical, and _what, no one knows about my quirk (or lack thereof), why would Sugino instantly assume I’m going to go to that—_

Oh.

Because while no one in 3-E but Shinsou knows about his lack of quirk, they all knew about his dream to become a hero. And in a world dominated by heroes like All-Might and Endeavor, that meant having an extremely powerful offensive quirk.

Crap.

Too flustered to object, he mindlessly approached his classmate and joined him in line for the offensive quirk exam. He noticed that he, Sugino and Muramatsu were the only E-class students in line, the rest filled mainly by A, B, and C-class students, with a few D-class. On the other hand, the evaluation had the other E-classers who had been in his exam group — Nakamura, Takebayashi, Nagisa, Fuwa, Maehara, Sugaya, Mimura, and Okuda — and a couple remaining main campus students, including the principal’s own son. Maybe he should’ve joined them; he probably could’ve gotten away with faking it a lot better.

It was too late to go back now as they were herded off to their respective testing areas. Izuku felt his anxiety spike tenfold as they were led to the excessively large indoor practice facility and lined up parallel to the enormous doors. The doors slowly creaked open, and Izuku felt his heart _stop._

Present Mic stood on the other side, hands on his hips and smiling widely. Izuku could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

_Oh my god, that’s Present Mic, he’s really here, he’s here to be our judge and grade us — oh no, he’s here to grade us! I’m going to die, I’m going to fall flat on my face and embarrass myself in front of a Pro-Hero and die—_

“Midoriya,” Sugino hissed. “You’re mumbling again.”

Izuku flushed bright red when he noticed the number of students giving him dirty looks. He turned his attention towards the Pro-Hero, who was now just standing a few feet away from the group of students.

“Welcome boys and girls!” he said, his voice booming. “I come here as a representative of U.A. High School! Alongside my colleague here, we are active teachers at the school who often interact with the hero course students, so think of this as an early scouting opportunity. Kunugigoka and U.A. have had a close relationship in recent years, with many of our finest students coming from this superb institution. We will be judging your performance today and giving you a fair and appropriate grade. We hope to see you succeed, so please — do your best!”

Izuku’s heart skipped about a hundred beats and he felt like throwing up everything he had eaten for the past week. Teachers from U.A. were going to be grading them? Does that mean whatever happens in there could affect their applications for U.A. as well? What if he did terrible and they remember and keep him from ever getting into U.A. and he won’t ever become a hero and—

And elbow to the rib from Sugino told him he was mumbling again. Izuku rubbed his face and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Oh, how he wished Shinsou was here; the boy could just order him to calm down and he wouldn’t have to deal with his stupid nerves.

“Now, please listen up while my colleague explains the test!”

Suddenly, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, a bright yellow beast began to rise from the floor and Izuku felt his heart stop a second time. No, it couldn’t be — not without his disguise — but who else could it be than — Korosensei?

But then the yellow form stood up fully, and they were greeted by a very _human_ face in a very yellow _sleeping bag._ Izuku felt like his brain was rebooting as he tried to get over that near heart attack.

The sleeping bag-clad man sighed as he slipped out of his yellow cocoon, revealing his long hair, strange white scarf, and dark outfit. Based on the design, he was likely an underground hero, but Izuku had no idea who.

The dark-haired man explained the test to them. Inside was a maze, designed by Principal Asano himself. Their job was to bypass obstacles and get out of the maze using any means necessary — and, of course, displaying their quirk in the best possible manner. They would be graded on speed, resourcefulness, and the manner in which they use their quirk. Bonus points could be earned through the maze by defeating obstacles appropriately.

“Keep in mind that this test is individually scored and every second counts. Your only objective is to prove your abilities to us,” the dark-haired man instructed, his face uncomfortably emotionless. “Time starts as soon as the doors open. You will not move any sooner, or you will receive a penalty.”

“Best of luck, students!” Present Mic encouraged one last time.

A light flashed as their countdown, and everyone got ready. Izuku hesitantly got into a running stance, his mind going a million miles an hour.

The doors suddenly opened, and it became a madhouse. The girl on his left immediately shoved him and Sugino to the ground, leaving them to basically get trampled. Izuku cried out when he felt something bite onto the back of his shirt, but relaxed when he realized it was just Muramatsu. The coyote boy’s muzzle poked the back of his neck as he helped Izuku to his feet, using his hands to help Sugino.

“Thanks, man,” Sugino said, brushing off his pants. “Looks like we’re set up to face a few more obstacles than just the ones in the maze. Let’s go!”

They took off in a flurry, Muramatsu running far ahead of them on all fours. They had barely made it twenty feet in the maze before a laser gun appeared out of an upcoming wall and opened fire on them.

“The hell?” Muramatsu cried, managing to dodge on the sheer fact that this wasn’t the first time they faced gunfire. The three ducked behind another wall for shelter while Sugino pulled out his anti-sensei baseball from his pocket.

“I knew there’s a reason I never leave home without it,” he said before launching the ball at literal rocket speeds. It flew right at the gun and smashed it into pieces.

“Run!” he said, taking off. Muramatsu was quick to follow, but Izuku reacted a second too late, falling a few feet behind. Unfortunately, that was all the maze needed to get the best of them, and a glass wall shot up out of the floor, cutting Izuku off from the other two.

“Midoriya!” Sugino cried, slamming his fist against the glass. He reared back to throw his ball again, but Izuku just shook his head.

“It’ll take too much time! Just go! I’ll find another way out!” he said. Muramatsu and Sugino looked reluctant but followed the order, running off further in the maze. Laser fire went off again and Izuku ducked, cursing to himself. There was no way he was going to make it through on his own. He needed to find another way out. What would Korosensei tell him to do…?

As if the tentacle teacher was there whispering the answer, he remembered the dark-clad man saying that they could get out ‘using any means necessary’. So, with that logic, he could travel through the maze any way he felt…

It was crazy. The walls were three times his height. But it was the only shot he had.

Backing up to get a running start, he charged for the nearest wall. Kicking off like Lovro had shown him, he scaled up and pressed off, launching him to the wall adjacent. He kicked off that one too, trying to build up momentum. He zig-zag jumped between the walls once more before kicking upward, reaching for the edge for dear life. By some miracle, he actually managed to grab on, his body slamming uncomfortably against the brick. He winced as he strained his muscles to pull himself up.

He had gone out on a limb that the walls were likely fairly thick, considering there were many surprises hiding in them. It looked like his suspicions were rightfully placed — it was about a foot wide, which was the perfect amount for him to run on. He scanned his surroundings and quickly found the exit, just off to the side, and took off.

He may not be as skilled a free runner as Kimura, but he could hold his own. He ran across the top of the maze, jumping from wall to wall, only having a few scary moments where he over or underestimated the distance. It was amusing, running and jumping over the heads of his competitors; many of their faces were completely priceless. He distantly heard Muramatsu howl, cheering him on.

“You’ve got this, Midoriya!” Sugino called out as he vaulted over his classmate’s head and Izuku smiled. Maybe he actually did. The exit was only a few walls away, and it looked like he was going to be the first one out. He just needed to make a few more jumps and —

The wall underneath his feet gave out as an explosion suddenly went off, sending him tumbling to the floor. He rolled as he hit the rubble to soften the blow, but every inch of his body screamed in pain. Blood trickled down into his eyes and his head throbbed, but thankfully nothing felt broken. He hobbled to his feet slowly. There was no way he was jumping back up the wall again, but he was close enough to the exit that it shouldn’t matter now.

He started off in a sprint when he heard a deep groan, followed by a whimper. He turned back and realized he hasn’t been the only own hurt by the explosion. A girl he didn’t recognize with light brown hair laid on the ground, her legs pinned by the rubble.

Izuku knew he shouldn’t. Any edge he had in this test had blown up, and he was already pressed for time. There wasn’t much he could do anyway; the rock had to weigh a couple hundred pounds, and Izuku wasn’t exactly known for his impeccable strength.

But as he watched the girl struggle helplessly, he knew he couldn’t turn his back on her.

Lovro was going to kill him for this.

Sliding into her side, he grabbed the large chunk of rock crushing her legs. “On three!” he shouted, and the girl thankfully nodded. “One. Two. Three!”

With strength Izuku didn’t know he had, he pulled at the rock and lifted it off the ground. He wasn’t able to get it very high — only a couple inches off the ground — but it was just enough for the girl to slide her feet out.

“T-Thanks,” she said breathlessly. Izuku just shook his head, waving it off.

“Thank me later. Just run!” he said, taking off. It quickly became evident that he was alone and, against his better judgment, paused to look back. The girl was hobbling awkwardly, leaning heavily on one leg, and Izuku cursed his stupidity for thinking she’d be able to run after just getting crushed by a wall.

Running back, he quickly looped her arm around his shoulder. “C’mon, we’ll do it together!”

The girl looked shocked that he would ever recommend such a thing. “Are you crazy? I’ll just slow you down! Your grade depends on this!”

Izuku just laughed, taking his first few steps and encouraging her to move with him. “I guess you don’t recognize me, but I’m from E-class, and you’re hurt. I don’t really care about my grade at this point.”

The girl visibly blinked back tears. “O-Okay. Thank you. Again.”

They hobbled through the maze at a slow pace, trying to avoid aggravating the girl’s injuries any further. By the time they made it out, they were one of the last people to cross the finish line. Sugino and Muramatsu, who had already finished, ran up to him frantically.

“There you are! What happened man? I thought you had a shoe-in for first earlier!” Sugino asked, the coyote boy next to him nodding wildly.

“I did, but then it all blew up — literally. I also stopped to help her get out from under the rubble,” Izuku explained. It seemed like the other two E-class boys just then noticed the girl. Muramatsu bared his teeth threateningly.

“Who are you?”

“Oh,” the girl said, awkwardly shimming away so she wasn’t leaning on Izuku anymore. “I’m Uraraka Ochako from Class 3-B. Pleased to meet you all.”

The other two E-class boys still looked skeptical, but Izuku smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you, Uraraka! I’m Midoriya Izuku, Class 3-E. These are my classmates, Sugino and Muramatsu.”

The girl perked up, waving sweetly. “I really can’t thank you enough, Midoriya-kun! If you hadn’t stopped, I think I’d be still under the rubble. I overused my quirk during the maze, and everyone else seemed too absorbed in finishing by themselves that no one else was stopping…”

“Are you surprised? You main campus kids aren’t exactly known for being team players,” Muramatsu barked. Uraraka winced, shuffling backward.

“I really do feel bad for slowing you down, Midoriya-kun. I completely ruined your score. Maybe I should talk to the judges and ask if I can give you half of my bonus points…” the girl said. Izuku just shook his head.

“I doubt they’ll let you do that, Uraraka. Please don’t worry too much about it. I was expecting a bad score anyway.”

The girl didn’t seem any more comforted, but she thankfully didn’t press anymore. An instructor suddenly came up to the girl and began to lead her away, saying she needed to get to the nurse immediately. As she was led away, the girl turned back and bowed.

“Thank you again, Midoriya-kun!”

Izuku waved as she left, ignoring the incredulous looks Sugino and Muramatsu were giving him. Sure, he may have blown his chance of scoring high on the Quirk Exam and possibly taking out one of Korosensei’s tentacles, but in reality, what chance did he ever stand of succeeding anyway? In the end, he’ll still the quirkless kid from E-class.

And while he may be a novice assassin trying to save the world, today he was a hero saving someone from harm. And that’s better than any prize.

-.-.-.-

They got test scores back later that week. The whole class held their breath as Korosensei announced the results.

Nakamura kicked it off by claiming the top spot in English, meaning they were one tentacle down and had one score on A-class. Izuku, despite his shaky confidence, managed to claim eighth overall. Even more surprising, Shinsou got third. When quizzed on it, the purple-haired boy merely shrugged it off.

“Bitch-sensei recommended it. She said I’ll increase my chances of getting people to respond if I know multiple languages.”

Izuku blinked. Since when did Shinsou listen to Ms. Jelavić?

Kanzaki, despite getting the top Japanese score in E-class, fell just short to Asano overall. One for A-class.

Okuda and Isogai, however, came back and snagged the top spots in science and social studies, respectively, meaning they were guaranteed to at least tie A-class. It was now all up to the math and quirk exams.

“For mathematics, top in E-class is…” Korosensei drawled, pausing for dramatic effect. Izuku could feel the eyes shifting between him and Karma, and he held his breath. “Midoriya, with a 99!”

The class cheered and Izuku beamed brightly, proudly accepting his exam. “Unfortunately, the overall spot was once again snatched by Asano Gakushuu, who received a perfect score. A closely fought battle, nonetheless!”

Korosensei passed out the rest of the exams, and Shinsou leaned forward to tap on Izuku’s shoulder. “I wonder what happened to Karma.”

Curious, the green-haired boy glanced back at Karma. The boy was gripping his test and scowling deeply. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn’t good.

“Now, for the Quirk Exam — and your final chance to take out one of my tentacles!” Korosensei crowed, giggling to himself. Everyone held their breath as their teacher slowly pulled out the results. “In the top spot in E-class… _and_ in the entire school…Shinsou Hitoshi!”

The class roared with applause, multiple people patting the purple-haired boy in the back. The octopus passed Shinsou his test, who immediately held it out for those around him to see.

“A perfect score on your evaluation practical? With Principal Asano as your judge? You’re crazy, dude!” Kimura commented. Nagisa nodded.

“The man was so intense, I think he made me turn my own quirk against myself,” the blue-haired boy said solemnly.

“You also only missed three points on the written,” Isogai noted. “Since when were you so good at Quirk Theory, Shinsou?”

Shinsou shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m not — or, at least, I didn’t use to be. I think spending so much time around the Data Duo rubbed off on me.”

Izuku laughed good-heartedly before anxiously turning to see his own test results, kind of scared for what he would find. He nearly dropped his paper when he saw his score.

“Wow, you scored pretty high too, Midoriya! A perfect score on you written, and just ten points knocked off your practical,” Nakamura commented.

“I…I don’t understand…I was one of the last to finish on the practical…” he said, still not believing is own eyes.

“Those U.A. heroes must have been pretty impressed with what you did, beating the system by going over the maze and then stopping to help that B-class girl,” Sugino observed. “Maybe you uncovered some secret bonus points or something.”

Izuku felt like crying. Had he really made Pro-Heroes think he was that worthy? All without a quirk? Lovro better be proud of him; he outsmarted them all.

“I’m curious, though. You scored so high on the Quirk Exam, and yet you still haven’t displayed it for the class. And from what I’ve gathered on your performance, while it may seem impressive to an outsider, nothing that you did was outside of what we learned as assassins,” Karma noted lazily, his gold eyes gleaming.

Well. Not all of them, it would seem.

Everyone’s eyes were on him. He felt Shinsou grab onto his arm protectively.

“I, um, well—” he flubbed. Korosensei tapped his chin thoughtfully.

“Never mind the details for now,” the teacher said, smiling widely. “Instead, focus on your big win against A-class! And, don’t forget, this means you get to take out four of my tentacles. Not nearly as concerning as six, but—”

“Hey, Octopus, don’t go selling us short,” Terasaka snapped, standing up from his desk. “The gang and I all got the top score for Home Ec. I may not be a genius, but I think that adds up to eight tentacles.”

“WHAT?”

-.-.-.-

“Hey, I never got to hear who the heroes grading the exam were; they only administered the physical-practical. All I got was eyeball dude and Principal Asano,” Shinsou pointed out as they walked home from school.

“Oh, it was so cool! Present Mic was there — I’m a _huge_ fan of his radio show, but like, who isn’t? — as well as some other U.A. hero teacher I didn’t recognize. I think he was an underground hero. It was crazy, though! When he first showed up, he popped out of nowhere wearing a yellow sleeping bag and I thought it was Korosensei crashing the test!”

“Oh God, could you imagine if it was? Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t try to use that disgrace of an All-Might disguise to sneak in.”

“No kidding. I thought I might recognize the hero once he when he stepped out of the sleeping bag, but no dice. He did have a really cool white scarf around his neck, though.”

“White scarf…” Shinsou stopped so suddenly, it was like he had been suddenly planted into the ground. “Wait. You’re telling me… that while I was stuck undergoing psychological torment with Principal Asano… that you got to meet Eraserhead?”

“Eh? Maybe? I wouldn’t really know, I’ve never heard of—”

_“You got to meet Eraserhead?!”_

-.-.-.-

Izuku was waiting outside the school for Shinsou to arrive the next morning, skimming passively through a news station app for any updates on his favorite heroes, when the hairs on the back of his neck seemed to rise. He spun around, kicking high and following with a swing of his knife, fulling expecting to find his best friend there, poised to fight. He came to an abrupt halt when he instead found Korosensei, grinning sadistically.

Needless to say, he wasn’t expecting it and fell right on his butt.

“My, my. Someone’s a little jumpy these days. Don’t tell me all your extra training has made you paranoid,” he said, his wicked grin practically glowing. “It’s _obviously_ working out in your favor, though. I must admit, I was quite shocked myself when I saw your Quirk Exam scores. While I had little doubt you would excel in the written theory, your practical score was astoundingly high, especially compared to many of your comrades.”

The octopus loomed closer, his grin becoming a lot more ominous. “Your classmates, who, I might add, have all followed my instructions to use their quirk in an assassination attempt before the exams.”

Izuku gulped. Admittedly, he had been expecting the conversation for a while, but after Korosensei dismissed Karma’s accusations, he was hoping it would all be swept under the rug. Clearly, luck was not on his side (it never was).

“You mean — everyone — and I —” he sputtered.

“Yes. Taking into account that Nakamura and I agreed her using her quirk to place first in English would count as her assassination attempt, you were the only one left. The other holdouts tried their best, and I applaud them for that.

“As I tried to teach you all with our little deal, your quirk is never something you should be scared or ashamed of. Whether it may be perceived as weak or dangerous, it is your gift, and you should embrace it. I was not asking you to become reliant on it, for that is just asking for trouble — just ask Karma. He thought he could sail through the tests with his innate capability quirk, and that hilariously blew up in his face.”

His teacher giggled, as if remembering something, before his face turned serious again. “Now, Midoriya, I am a man of my word, but I can be reasoned with. So,” the octopus stepped back, holding out his tentacles expectantly, “if you use your quirk to kill me right now, I _might_ consider skipping out on your consequence. And trust me. I’m fine with either outcome.”

His eyes glowed red as he spoke that last part, and Izuku almost peed himself right then, right there.

Knowing any excuse would cause more problems, the green-haired boy sighed, his shoulders sagging.

“It’s not that I didn’t _want_ to use my quirk, Korosensei,” he said. “I just don’t have a quirk to kill you with.”

He took a deep breath.

“I’m quirkless, Korosensei.”

There. He said it.

And he felt terrible.

The octopus went slack-faced, and Izuku hung his head in shame. When a tentacle wrapped protectively around his waist, he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. Korosensei pulled him in tight, and the green-haired clung to his teacher like he was a lifeline.

“Midoriya…why didn’t you just say so from the start. Do you really think so little of me? Of your classmates?”

Izuku sniffled. “I wanted to, so badly. But I just couldn’t help but feel like it was going to be the same. Even though we’re E-class, everyone still somehow seems so amazing. I can’t ever measure up. Everyone thinks I’m still going to become a hero — even Shinsou, and he knows I’m quirkless — but it’s all just a big lie! A dream meant only for sleep.”

Korosensei wiped away his tears. “Regardless of your born abilities, I have seen tremendous growth in you. I’ve watched your spars with Shinsou and your training with Lovro; you are a force to be reckoned with, and pro-assassins and heroes alike would envy you.

“What I’m trying to say, Young Midoriya, is that I’ve always told the class that it doesn’t matter the quirk you’re born with — it matters what you do with it. That still applies to you, perhaps even more than the others. Being quirkless doesn’t define your worth or your limitations; it only stands to be an open slate for the greatness you shall achieve.”

Izuku couldn’t help it. He sobbed. Like, ugly sobbed. To the point where Korosensei’s tentacles were swelling up with his tears.

How did the octopus seem to understand _everything_ like he has experienced it personally? How did he always know the right thing to say?

How could Izuku be expected to kill the one person who had so much faith in him?

-.-.-.-

“I’m going to tell the class I’m quirkless.”

They were walking home. Shinsou looked up from his phone, clearly shocked, before smiling fondly. He ruffled Izuku’s hair.

“I’m proud of you, Jolly Green. And don’t worry. This won’t change anything.”

-.-.-.-

It changed everything. Just not in the way Izuku expected.

“WHAT? You mean you’ve been doing everything without a quirk?” Nagisa said, aghast.

Maehara laughed. “You’re totally badass, Midoriya! You had us all fooled!”

“You mean you don’t even have an analysis quirk?” Fuwa asked. “What a plot-twist!”

His classmates were in uproar, unable to believe that “he was naturally that cool and not because of a quirk,” (as they were putting it). A couple of his classmates were crowded around Ritsu’s screen as she played back the video, still not really believing it happened.

“I…I haven’t been very honest with you guys,” video Izuku said from his place in front of the class. “The truth is, I haven’t been keeping my quirk a secret from you, because there’s nothing to keep a secret. I-I’m quirkless.”

“I can’t believe this,” Muramatsu said, his coyote ears folded downwards. “You were like, the best at our quirk practical. How did you manage to do all that without a quirk?”

“I can’t believe so many peoples’ quirk exam scores got surpassed by someone without a quirk at all,” Hazama said, her shadow body sprawled back in his chair. “That’s the biggest ‘Fuck you’ you could give those main campus assholes. Good job.”

Sugino nodded. “Respect, dude.”

Karma eyed him, smirking. “My, my, not even my quirk was able to figure this out beforehand. I’m impressed, Freckles.”

(Izuku had an inkling suspicion there were a lot of reasons Karma’s ‘quirk’ couldn’t figure it out, and it wasn’t because of power limitations. He would have to explore this theory later.)

But for now, all he could focus on was the relief and joy he felt under his classmate’s praise. Korosensei was smiling, perhaps a bit too smugly, while Ms. Jelavić looked floored and Karasuma nodded, giving his respect. Izuku felt tears form in the corners of his eyes. Even his teachers believed in him, despite being quirkless.

“I told you so,” Shinsou said and placed his elbow on Izuku’s shoulder.

Izuku couldn’t even argue. “I know.”

-.-.-.-

As per their deal with A-class, they were able to steal the reward offered by the school for the class with the highest grades: an all-expenses-paid trip to a private island resort for three days. Which meant E-class was going on another Assassination Vacation.

But until their departure, Karasuma scheduled their summer break full of assassination and quirk training. Though they had an elaborate assassination plan worked out already, their teacher wanted to make sure there was no room for error. With the opportunity to destroy all eight of Korosensei’s tentacles and the fate of the world on the line, messing up was not an option.

Izuku was in the middle of practicing his long-distance shooting when an oh-so-familiar voice shouted out, “Your feet are sloppy again, Izuku!”

The green-haired boy jolted, his shot going wide. “Mr. Lovro?!”

He spun around and found his trainer stalking towards him, clearly displeased. Izuku cowered behind his gun instinctively, while Ms. Jelavić ran away to cover up her body. It was slightly relieving to know the fear of his mentor was mutual amongst his students.

“What have I told you about maintaining focus?” Lovro growled.

“Sorry, sir!”

Shinsou glanced in between the two. “Really? This is your big secret?”

Izuku chuckled sheepishly, shifting awkwardly under the stares of his best friend and trainer. “Um, w-why are you here, Mr. Lovro?”

“I called him here to assist with the classes’ training,” Karasuma explained, approaching them. “I felt it best we got all the insight we could, since this may be our only opportunity to kill the target. I wasn’t aware he had already taken it upon himself to overlook some of the student’s development.”

He turned to Izuku, clearly looking for an answer. “I, uh, approached Mr. Lovro a while ago and asked him to train me to fight. I knew since I was quirkless, I was going to have to work harder than everyone just to keep up…”

Karasuma hummed. “Well, considering you are one of our top combaters, it just goes to show how useful Lovro’s input is. We’re lucky to have him.”

The foreign assassin hummed and turned to address the class. “Your teacher has informed me of all your quirks, strengths, and weaknesses, which I will take the liberty to explore and evaluate during your training sessions this week. I trust we will remain uninterrupted by the octopus, of course?”

“Yes. He has chosen to take the summer to re-establish himself as the Number One Villain by wreaking havoc all across the globe. Early this month, we arranged for the news stations to start commenting on his lack of appearances, knowing his pride was too great to overlook this,” Karasuma answered.

“Perfect,” Lovro drawled. “Now, explain to me your plan.”

-.-.-.-

After Karasuma debriefed Lovro on their assassination plot, the dark-cloaked assassin called Izuku over while the rest of his classmates started on their drills again.

“Your class’s plan is very well thought out. I take it you had much part in the creation, correct?”

Izuku tried not to quiver under the man’s intimidating gaze. “Ah, yes, Nagisa, Karma, Shinsou and I came up with most of it, though everyone contributed in some way.”

“As to be expected of one of my students,” Lovro said. “Though, I must say, much of your class has true potential. I would not mind taking on a number of them as well. I am amazed by how all your talents have grown in such a short amount of time.”

Izuku couldn’t help but agree. They started off as a bunch of lost-cause end-classers, but now they were a promising group of fighters and trained killers.

(And since when was that a good thing?)

“Izuku.”

The green-haired boy jolted. “Yes, sir?”

“There is a technique I wish to teach you before you depart. I meant to teach it to you in our last lesson, but your distraction would have made it pointless,” Lovro said, standing over his student.

“Technique?” Izuku echoed.

“Yes. Consider it a gift from your mentor. It’s a skill I pass only to my most promising students. Many believe it to be a type of quirk, but I assure you, it is nothing but assassination skill in its purest form,” the foreign assassin explained. Izuku felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his sockets. “Should you master it, you will find it never fails in a fight. I hope you make good use of it, Izuku.”

-.-.-.-

“So,” Shinsou began as they walked home together like always, even though it was summer vacation. “Lovro’s your mentor, huh? I’m surprised a hardass like him was willing to train a kid.”

“He’s not as bad as he seems,” Izuku defended mindlessly, oblivious to the crazed look his best friend gave him. “You just need to get used to him, that’s all.”

Shinsou snorted. “No, I really think I’m good. I deal with scary and manipulative men more than enough in the system.”

Izuku felt bad for asking, but he couldn’t help but bring it up. “Well, since you know my secret, are you going to explain what’s going on between you and Principal Asano? The man gave you a perfect score in your practical — he didn’t even give his own son that score.”

The purple-haired boy came to a halt so quickly Izuku didn’t have time to react, and he walked face-first into the taller boy’s back. His best friend was so stiff he was quaking.

“You’re overreacting. I swear, it’s nothing, really,” Shinsou said flatly. Izuku was about to object and call him out on the blatant lie when he felt his emotions fluctuate unnaturally. He went from feeling calm to anxious to paranoid in seconds. It seemed Shinsou felt the same thing, and he jumped back to reveal an apprehensive looking Nagisa.

“Hey guys, can I join you? I normally walk with Karma, but he chose to skip the extra training.”

Shinsou snapped out of his shock first. “Sure thing, Nagisa.”

Even as they all started walking again, Izuku couldn’t help but stare at the blue-haired boy. _Is it just me, or is Nagisa’s empathetic projection getting stronger? Maybe knowing the true aspects of his quirk has increased his power? Is that a thing?_

“Hey, Shinsou, is it true you agreed to let Bitch-sensei train you?” Nagisa asked. Izuku perked up, intrigued because this was news to him. Shinsou flared up a satisfying shade of red.

“One! It’s only one lesson!”

Izuku couldn’t resist, feeling inspired by Karma. _This is what you get for keeping your secrets when I told you mine._ “You’re looking pretty red, Shinsou. What could this lesson possibly be over?”

“Nothing!”

-.-.-.-

Their week of training flew by, and the next thing Izuku knew, they were on the boat ride headed for their island vacation. Izuku stood at the head, feeling the wind blow through his hair, his friends on either side of him. Shinsou sat scrunched down, wearing sunglasses and a hoodie with the hood pulled over his hat.

“Uh, Shinsou, are you sure that’s what you want to wear to the beach?” Nagisa asked. The purple-haired boy adjusted his hat and sighed.

“I don’t do the sun,” he muttered. Karma laughed and propped his elbow on Shinsou’s shoulder.

“What, does Shinsou sunburn easily? What a bummer.”

Izuku sweat-dropped and leaned down to whisper in his best friend’s ear. “I would recommend you keep an eye on your sunscreen to make sure he doesn’t tamper with it.”

-.-.-.-

They arrived at the resort and began to settle in for a few minutes, knowing soon they’d soon have to start preparations for their assassination attempt tonight. The hotel staff offered everyone complimentary drinks upon arrival, which Izuku gratefully accepted, while Shinsou bluntly turned it down.

“If it’s not hyped on caffeine, I don’t want it,” the purple-haired boy declared as he collapsed underneath a beach umbrella. Izuku rolled his eyes and took a seat next to his best friend, slurping the fruity drink greedily.

Throughout the day, there were assignments for everyone to prepare for their big assassination plot that night. Izuku was on the team with Nagisa, Karma, and Kataoka; they were supposed to pretend to be scuba-diving when they were actually doing recon. Shinsou was teamed with Yada to ‘persuade’ the captain of the ship restaurant to go to the specific destination they had planned out.

Dinner time rolled around, and they were on the ship together when the reality finally settling. Izuku couldn’t bring himself to touch his food, the nerves too great. Shinsou was grumpily sprawled out next to him, rubbing in soothing cream on his skin. Despite the boy’s valiant efforts, he still managed to get sunburned.

“Don’t feel too bad, Shinsou, your sunburn doesn’t look too bad,” Kurahashi tried to comfort the brainwasher. “At least you’re not like Korosensei.”

The octopus was apparently very susceptible to the sun’s rays and had literally been burned black. Even his teeth had a sunburn.

“He looks like a bowling ball,” Kataoka muttered.

“Yeah, it’s kinda uncomfortable to look at,” Yada said, eyes gleaming. “Can you do something about?”

“Why, of course I can. If you recall, students, I can molt!” Korosensei declared, molting his burnt skin so it was replaced with his usual yellow. “Of course, I can only do it once a month, and it takes up a lot of my energy — oh.”

Their teacher pathetically covered his face with his tentacles as he sulked. Izuku shook his head.

“You know, for someone who knows his students are actively planning to kill him, he lets himself get way too distracted if Yada’s quirk can persuade him so strongly. But, hey, at least this means we won’t need to use your Brainwashing,” he commented.

Shinsou just groaned.

-.-.-.-

They brought Korosensei to the floating chapel. As one of the eight students who got to take out a tentacle, Shinsou stood inside in the front with the others. Izuku stood in the back next to Karma, waiting for the signal to get into position. His stomach was curdling and twisting like Okano’s quirk.

In a matter of minutes, Korosensei would likely be dead. Their target would be taken out, their mission deemed a success, and the world will be saved.

But at the same time, he couldn’t help but fear success. What would the future hold without Korosensei there beside them, teaching them in all his superior, caring ways?

Because, in the end, what’s an assassin without a target?

“Before we get started,” Isogai began. “We would like to take time to view a collage of memories collected by Mimura’s quirk. Think of it as a parting gift from us to you.”

Korosensei tittered. “A digital yearbook, I presume? Too bad we only had the time to capture half of the year together.”

The octopus took a seat on the bench, and that was their signal to start. Okajima turned off the lights and Mimura blinked, triggering is hologram screen quirk. Instantly, film of their daily class life seen through Mimura’s eyes streamed.

“Before you came to join us, we were a bunch of soon-to-be dropouts, just trying to get through middle school,” Mimura narrated live, targeting one of Korosensei’s weaknesses: flattery. The stream switched to clips from their assassination training. “Now we’re aspiring assassins with one goal: to kill our Sensei.”

That was Izuku’s queue to move. He silently walked out the back, keeping an eye on the scene to make sure nothing went wrong.

“In our time together, we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, our capabilities, our quirks, and our classmates,” Mimura continued. “But above all, we’ve learned _a lot_ about our target.”

Instantly, the hologram shifted to show video of Korosensei trying to sneakily read pornography in class. Korosensei’s arrogant façade vanished.

“YOU SAID YOU’D KEEP IT A SECRET!”

Okajima and Maehara stepped up, grinning evilly as Mimura showed various clips where he caught Korosensei being a pervert. It was almost alarming how many there were; Mimura and Hazami teamed up to stalk him, using the girl’s shadow body as camouflage, but they only had time to follow Korosensei around for about a week. How much pornography does this man need?

Korosensei’s embarrassment and shame were clearly getting to him; while he started out a superior being in every way to them, he was now reduced to a blubbering child caught breaking the rules. Izuku almost felt bad for him.

“Better get comfortable, Korosensei,” Okajima teased. “Mimura’s stocked up on eye drops, and we’ve got over an hour of this footage.”

“A WHOLE HOUR?”

-.-.-.-

By the time the film was over, Mimura had gone through three bottles of eye drops (doubtfully healthy, no matter how much the boy insisted), and Korosensei was so ashamed he was claiming he was already dead, laying on the bench pathetically. He was completely oblivious of anything else.

Just like they planned.

High tides had come in, flooding the place just enough to soak their teacher’s tentacles. He was seasick, embarrassed, waterlogged, and about to be out of eight tentacles.

It’s like success was inevitable.

Izuku sat in his boat, waiting for Ritsu’s signal. From his position, he could just barely get a glimpse of Shinsou and the other seven students, all poised with their guns. The purple-haired boy said something, smiling bitterly, before firing at Korosensei’s right-hand tentacle.

The other seven did the same, rapid fire, and Ritsu appeared on his phone screen.

“It’s been five seconds. Go!”

Izuku and the other three boat drivers, Karma, Hara, and Takebayashi, gunned it, speeding away. The ropes attached tore apart the chapel, exposing Korosensei completely. With Izuku’s job done, he was able to sit back and watch the rest of the plot work out.

Immediately afterward, Kataoka in her part-fish form shot out, bringing a wave of water with her and soaking their teacher even further. Kurahashi, using her Animal Mimicry, made what Izuku assumed was a dolphin battle cry, given the army of ocean creatures that came forth, jumping and splashing Korosensei until he was thoroughly soaked.

Izuku noted that the animal attack had pushed Korosensei slightly off center, but thankfully they had planned for this too. Okajima jumped into action, triggering his Snapshot quirk. Izuku was far enough away that he wasn’t affected, but it was certainly strange to watch all movement, even the water, freeze for just a second. The perverted teenager shoved Korosensei’s immobile body into position just quick enough before his quirk gave out.

Finally, it was time to strike. The remaining E-class students rose from the ocean on water jet packs, locking their teacher in a hydraulic cage. It blocked Izuku’s view of Korosensei, but considering he came up with the plan, he knew it forward and backward. Those who had taken out his tentacles, along with Ritsu in her robot form, would start firing rapid fire around their teacher, locking him in tight.

Ritsu’s timer approached one minute, and Izuku held his breath. He watched the gunfire leave Chiba and Hayami’s guns from their sniper’s nests. There was no doubt in the precision they shot with, especially with their quirks.

The timer hit one minute. The gunfire stopped. Izuku felt his heart stuttered.

Had they actually won?

He reached for his phone, about to ask Ritsu for an update, when a shockwave ripped through the air, seemingly taking all the color and sound with it.

And then the world exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please...please ignore my quirk theory blah. I was trying to go all biology on it and I hate biology so just please ignore.
> 
> Shoutouts go to Co_chan for the "Aizawa in a sleeping bag looks like Korosensei" idea, freaking loved adding that insert, as well as Directionally_Challenged for taking the time to help analyze 3-E's quirks (you'll see her work in upcoming chapters ^.^).
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control
> 
> In a nutshell: E-class kills the exams, Izuku takes Lovro’s advice and uses assassination as his quirk for the exam, Present Mic, Eraserhead, and Uraraka make an appearance, Shinsou claims the highest quirk exam score, and Izuku finally tells everyone he’s quirkless. E-class gets to go on a trip to an island, Lovro teaches Izuku a new trick, Izuku drinks some juice, and their assassination plot to take out their teacher gets underway.


	6. To Face New Enemies (Ep. 19-20)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday Shinsou! He'd probably hate me for this chapter but I don't careeeeeee (You'll see why soon lmao)
> 
> OH, ANNOUNCEMENT: I've been getting a TON of questions about pairings. TBH, pairings aren't going to be a big thing in this story, so I didn't originally have any plans and was writing the story as I felt it developed. Last week, I officially finished book one (though it needs about 1000 hours of editing) and I came to a consensus:
> 
> This story will be extremely co-dependent queerplatonic ShinDeku with a whole lot of ambiguity. It's kinda just how it naturally developed (plus I got concepts for possible romance things in book two with other pairings that I dont want to spoil but I'm very excited for). For those that wanted queerplatonic, you're welcome, and those that wanted it shipped, as I said, it will be VERY ambiguous at times. VERY. Like, sooooo ambiguous. So you should hopefully be satisfied that way? 
> 
> Thanks! If you have requests, send them my way like always! Shoutouts at the end!

Not long after they arrived at the island, Bitch-sensei literally pulled Hitoshi away from the group to a secluded part of the private beach.

“Can I help you?” he snapped, rubbing his arm. For a whiny woman, she certainly had a strong grip.

“Yes, you can. It’s lesson time, brat. You may have avoided me the entire training week with Lovro, but I’m not letting you off that easily!” she scowled.

“Fine, but you better make it quick. I’ve got to meet up with Yada soon. We kind of have an assassination plot in the works, remember?”

Bitch-sensei scoffed. “That’s why I need to teach you this now. You’ll thank me later.”

Hitoshi sighed and folded his arms, waiting for her to get on with it. The foreign teacher scowled deeper but approached, grabbing the back of his neck.

“Bitch-sensei? What the—” he was suddenly cut off as she attacked him with her infamous killer kiss. He could feel his brain short-circuit and reboot itself as her tongue attack his mouth masterfully.

_Gross, get her off, get her off, get her off!_

His brain cried out and gave him enough sense to finally push her off. He gasped for air desperately and wiped vigorously at his mouth with the sleeve of his hoodie.

“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t molest me again!” he spat, wishing he could wash his mouth out with hand sanitizer.

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t molesting, brat. I was teaching you my best weapon. I call it the Kiss of Death.”

Hitoshi snorted. “Creative. Does that mean this is my Knife of Death and my Gun of Death?”

“Shut up and listen, you little piece of shit!” Bitch-sensei growled. “I don’t know how Lovro deals with mentoring so many little brats. Unbearable.”

“Aren’t you one of Lovro’s ‘brats’ too?”

“I said shut up!”

Bitch-sensei huffed and crossed her arms. “Look. I’m trying to teach you something that could one day save your life. If I’ve learned anything in my line of work, it’s that a deliberate placement of the hand, or a certain positioning of the body can be a stronger weapon than any gun or quirk. I’m sure you already know this, but unless your target talks, you’re defenseless, and if they know your quirk, they know how to defeat you. With my techniques, however, I have no doubt people will forget themselves and fall for responding to you. You’ve felt my Kiss of Death, after all.”

“So, what? You’re going to teach me this death kiss of yours?” Hitoshi asked.

“Please. I already have. This is a much different technique I’m going to show you,” she said and reached into her bag. She pulled out a pair of sparkly heels. “You should know that versatility is a must in the work of seduction.”

Hitoshi’s eyes widened. “No. No way in hell, Bitch-sensei.”

“This isn’t an option _, Shitsou_. Take your damn shoes off!”

-.-.-.-

Their plan was going perfectly. Almost too perfect.

They lured Korosensei to the floating chapel, distracted him so he wouldn’t notice the tides flooding the floor, and cornered him right where they wanted him. They exploited every weakness they knew. There was no doubt in his mind that this was going to be the end.

So, with that, Hitoshi pointed his gun at his chosen tentacle and smirked at his teacher.

“Goodbye, Korosensei.”

-.-.-.-

When the area surrounding Korosensei exploded, Hitoshi feared for a second that they had been tricked, and killing the octopus is what would cause the end of the world. That the creature was baiting them all this time to do his dirty work.

But then the light faded and the waves subsidized. The purple-haired boy swam to the surface and was greeted by Midoriya on his boat.

“Shinsou! Are you okay?”

Hitoshi coughed up some water but nodded. “I’m fine. Did it work? Is he dead?”

He and his classmates looked around. There appeared to be no sign of their teacher. Karasuma and Bitch-sensei ran toward them on the boat deck, ordering them to keep an eye out in case Korosensei was able to regenerate.

“Hey, look at the water!” Hara cried out, pointing at a spot where bubbles were forming unnaturally beneath the ocean. Hitoshi pulled out his gun and aimed it at the spot, while Kataoka swam over there at lightning speed and pulled out—

A ball?

“Hehe,” giggled Korosensei in ball form (Koroball?) while the class just gaped. It appeared that Korosensei’s head had shrunken down and was being preserved in a clear sphere. Where the rest of his body was, Hitoshi had no idea.

“Well, class, allow me to introduce you to my Absolute Defense Form! The energy of my transformation crystallized around my sphere head, creating a clear, impenetrable cocoon that will protect me for twenty-four hours. Then the molecules will melt down and I will return to my usual form via an energy explosion. In this form, nothing can harm me, but the trade-off is that I’m completely immobile,” explained Koroball.

“If that’s the case, couldn’t we just launch you into deep space or something?” wondered Kimura.

Koroball chuckled. “Wonderful observation, my boy! However, I know for a fact that there is no rocket capable of doing that in twenty-four hours.”

“Such a shame,” Karma said, picking up Koroball. “Though the little tingling of my quirk tells me you’re not completely resistant to harm in this form.”

The devilish boy pulled out his phone, showing a picture of Korosensei shifting through porn magazines. Koroball screamed, but without the rest of his body, he couldn’t hide his face in his tentacles. Karasuma ended up taking the ball, saying he’d let HQ deal with it now, but in the end, there wasn’t much anyone could do. Koroball said that when he returned to his original form, the energy would explode just like it had before, putting anyone surrounding him at risk.

Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck, looking up to the sky.

(He told himself it wasn’t because he was trying to hold back tears.)

Midoriya, the emotional kid he was, openly teared up. Nakamura sunk down and blew bubbles in the water, while Chiba and Hayami looked more defeated than he had ever seen them. Nagisa hung his head in shame, and even Karma’s shoulders drooped a little

“Don’t be sad, class!” Koroball tried. “You got closer to defeating me than even heroes like All-Might or Endeavor. You should be proud! This was undoubtedly the cleverest assassination attempt I’ve ever seen!”

It was clear their teacher was trying to make them feel better, praising their ingenuity like always.

So why did it hurt so much worse?

-.-.-.-

E-class sat at the resort tables in complete silence. There was a sense of defeat among everyone that Hitoshi hadn’t felt since he first walked into 3-E — before Korosensei ever came into their lives.

 _Why does everything revolve around him these days?_ Hitoshi thought bitterly as he laid his head on the table.

Chiba suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence. “This is all my fault,” he said.

The class turned to him, visibly confused, and waited for the stoic boy to continue.

“The moment I fired, I knew my shot was going to be off. My quirk, it’s always made my vision so clear — too clear, in fact. That’s why I wear my hair in my eyes; it helps me focus in and sort through the details my quirk wants to point out. But when I went to shoot, my vision blurred. I couldn’t focus on any detail for a second, and it made me hesitate. If I had just kept myself together and controlled my quirk…”

Takebayashi pulled out a slip from his belly button. “It’s hard to calculate it accurately, but my best estimation is that if you had shot .5 seconds faster, or if Hayami’s shot 30 centimeters to the left, there would have been a 50% increased chance of neutralization.”

Hayami trembled at the mention of her name. “My quirk was off too. I had practiced so much on balancing the equilibrium in my hands when I shoot, but when it came to fire for real, it felt like I had never used my quirk before.”

“You’re not the only one to blame,” Midoriya said, sniffling. “I should’ve known better when I created the plan. I should have anticipated a worst-case scenario like this. I blew it, and now the world might pay for it.”

The class flinched collectively. Maehara placed his head down on the table and sighed. “I’m exhausted, man. I vote we all head back to the rooms.”

A murmur of agreement ran through the class, and Hitoshi arched an eyebrow. Sure, he was tired, but looking at the class now, you would’ve thought they ran a marathon or three. Something didn’t seem right. Even Midoriya was looking a little worse for wear.

It only went downhill after that.

Nakamura stood, trying to get back to her room, but promptly collapsed. Okajima, who had just been ranting about girls and boobs, suddenly had a massive nosebleed — worse than usual. Sugino sneezed, triggering his quirk and sending the straw in his mouth flying like a bullet. Something definitely wasn’t right. He rushed to Kanzaki’s side right before the girl fell out of her chair.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked, stabilizing the girl. Midoriya walked noticeably slower than usual to the Kanzaki’s other side and brushed his hand against her forehead.

“She’s burning up. We should get her a wet towel,” he noted, reaching over to soak a cloth napkin in water. Hitoshi took the opportunity to reach over and brush his friend’s forehead too, flinching when he felt how warm he was.

“You too, Jolly Green. You need to sit down.”

Midoriya shook his head stubbornly. “I’m fine. My fever is not nearly as bad.”

Though Hitoshi wanted to argue, his friend did have a point. While Midoriya’s skin was a little warmer than usual, Kanzaki’s felt like fire and it hurt to even touch her.

“What the hell is happening?” Hitoshi wondered, eyeing his ill classmates. “We need to get them to a hospital!”

Midoriya shook his head wearily, pressing a wet cloth to Kanzaki’s forehead. “There aren’t any on the island. We would have to take them back to the mainland.”

Hitoshi still pulled out his phone, about to call an ambulance, when suddenly Ritsu appeared on his screen. The artificial girl stood frozen in the background while words streamed across the screen and an unnaturally deep voice dubbed over it.

“Looks like the snotty brats are feeling a little under the weather,” the voice mocked. Midoriya paused in his care to look over at Hitoshi’s phone.

“Ritsu must have been hacked!” the green-haired boy observed.

“Well, I guess calling them sick is a bit of an understatement,” the voice continued. “They’ve been infected by a quirk-created virus, one of the deadliest in the world. Give it a few days, and their cells wither into nothing and their organs become jelly. Lucky for you, I had an antidote crafted, the only one of its kind. If you want it, you’ll have to come get it yourself.”

The screen changed to show a map of an island. “Come to the hotel on the island’s mountain peak. Top floor. Send the octopus with the kids with the rainbow-haired kids — assuming they’re still standing, of course. If one’s sick, then I guess the remaining ones will have to make the journey alone. And if they’re all sick, well, they’re good for dead anyway.”

Midoriya tensed up, and Hitoshi made noted of how flushed his face was.

“You have one hour. Once the package is delivered, then we’ll discuss a trade. If all goes well, you will have the antidote and I will have the bounty. Contact outside help, and the antidote will be destroyed. So please, act wisely. We’re fighting for the same cause after all, aren’t we?”

The line went dead, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but feel like all hope went with it.

-.-.-.-

“So, what you’re saying is,” Hitoshi drawled. “Is that we’re trapped on a shady resort known for harboring illegal business under the government’s nose, while some madman is threatening to kill a bunch of middle schoolers for some prize money, and we have no choice but to just comply?”

They had gathered their poisoned classmates into a group and laid them down on makeshift cots, while the remaining ones stood around Karasuma, waiting for their next instructions.

The spiky-haired teacher sighed. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

“And no offense, but are we really planning on sending runts into battle? I mean, I get Turnip-Head and Devil-Boy, but them?” Terasaka said, grabbing Midoriya and Nagisa by the back of their shirts. “Not trying to be rude or anything, but my friends’ lives are at stake. Why don’t we just say screw it and take everyone to the hospital?”

“Bad idea,” Takebayashi said. A slip spewed out of his belly button again. “My Statistics say that if we did that, there is a 100% chance of death. Not even healing quirks such as Pro-Hero Recovery Girl’s could save them.”

Karma sighed. “So basically we have no choice but to do what the prick wants. With the octopus out of commission and all.”

Said creature giggled. “Never fear, Karma-boy. I may be immobilized, but I’m not without a plan. I need all healthy students not caring for the ill to gather at the quadrants Ritsu is sending you ASAP.”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi climbed in the car Karasuma arranged for them and scowled when Midoriya followed after him.

“No. You’re poisoned. Go lay down.”

Midoriya hushed him violently, glancing around to see if anyone heard. “I promise I’m not that sick. I hardly even have a fever, I’ll be fine.”

Hitoshi still blocked his entry. “Jolly Green, if you don’t go lay down right now, I’m going to force you to. And I don’t want to do that to you.”

“ _Please,_ Shinsou. You heard the caller; he asked for me. If I go with the other sick students, you and Nagisa going to be completely alone.”

“He asked for the rainbow-haired kids. Karma is healthy too,” Hitoshi argued, but his friend shook his head stubbornly.

“I know that, but — but I can’t abandon you all when I know I can still walk on my own. I don’t know why I’m not as sick as the others, but I’m not going to question it if it means I can help.”

Midoriya looked so desperate and sad, like a lost puppy in the pound. Hitoshi scowled. There was a reason he was a cat-person, after all.

“Fine,” he relented, letting Midoriya finally climb in. “But if you start feeling worse, you better tell me, or so help me Midoriya—”

“I will, I will, I promise!” the green-haired boy swore. Once he was buckled into the seat next to Hitoshi, the brainwasher grabbed his friend by the shoulder and forced him to lay down in his lap.

“Quiet, Jolly Green,” he said when Midoriya tried to protest. “You might as well save your energy while you still have it. Rest a little. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

The green-haired boy finally stopped fighting, settling in so he was laying on his back. Up close, Hitoshi could see how flushed his best friend’s cheeks were, and he wished he never agreed to let Midoriya come in the first place.

“Thanks, Shinsou. You’re a good friend, you know that right?”

Hitoshi snorted. “Damn straight. Now hush up and rest, you nerd.”

-.-.-.-

The ride wasn’t nearly as long as Hitoshi hoped, and soon they had pulled over to the side of the road. A huge cliff stood before them, their destination conveniently located at the top.

“Well. We tried,” he mumbled, trying to climb back in the car, only for Karma to drag him back out.

“C’mon Shinsou, live a little, huh? Since when has a little mountain ever been able to stop us?” the devilish boy teased. His classmates began to scale the cliff wall with no harness or hand grips like the monkeys they all were, and Hitoshi just sighed.

“I do not get enough sleep for this.”

He approached the cliff, about to start his ascent, when he noticed how apprehensive Midoriya looked. Normally, the boy was enthusiastic about almost anything, but that was when he wasn’t poisoned. Though his best friend may not be incapacitated like the others, the virus had clearly weakened him.

“Hey,” he said, holding out his hand. “We’ll do it together, yeah?”

They climbed next to each other, Hitoshi making sure Midoriya wasn’t about to collapse and fall off. It was clear they were much slower than the rest of the group, however.

“If you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of on a time limit,” Karma commented, looking down at them. The rest of the class was about a hundred feet ahead of them.

“We’re trying, alright? Jolly Green isn’t feeling too jolly right now,” he answered.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Midoriya?” Nagisa asked. The green-haired boy waved him off shakily.

“Just a little tired, I promise!” he said, right as he slipped slightly on the rock.

“Do you guys need help?” Kimura asked, dropping down so he was next to them, showing off his fancy shoes that allowed him to use Sticky Feet while wearing them. “My quirk lets me stick to vertical surfaces for short periods of time. It’ll make climbing with another person a piece of cake.”

“I can help too, I’ve got more than enough strength,” declared Terasaka, much to everyone’s surprise. “Oh, don’t look so shocked. Like I said, my friends’ lives are on the line, and if Broccoli-Hair over there is going to be one of the reasons they’re saved, then I’m going to do what it takes. A lion always protects his pride.”

Hitoshi blinked but smirked. “Just don’t drop him, Kitty-Boy.”

“Yeah, right, Turnip-Head.”

Hitoshi paused to help Midoriya climb on Kimura’s back before the Sticky-Feet boy took off up the mountain, literally leaving Hitoshi in the dust. He sighed and began to climb up the rest of the distance on his own.

“Sure,” he mumbled sarcastically. “Leave the purple kid behind. He can figure it out himself.”

-.-.-.-

By the time he reached the top, Ritsu had already hacked the floor plan and mapped out their ascent. Hitoshi sighed when he saw they’d be taking stairs the entire way. He really, _really_ should start taking P.E. more seriously.

“Let’s go, we don’t have much time,” Karasuma said, holding the side door open for them. The group ran inside silently and waited for their teacher to peer around the corner and scope out the area.

“Dammit. There are way too many guards for us to go undetected as a large group,” he cursed. Bitch-sensei scoffed and tossed Hitoshi her obnoxiously large purse.

“That’s what you think,” she remarked. “Leave this to the pros, will you? Boys, plug your noses. Oh, and Shitsou, I hope you’re taking notes for our next lesson.”

Hitoshi bristled irritably, glaring at the purse in his hands, but watched nonetheless as his teacher approached the security guards, stumbling like she was tipsy. An opaque, barely visible aroma began to waft of her skin, and within seconds, she had the attention of every man in the room. They flew into her trap like unassuming flies.

“For all her attitude and complaining,” Karasuma explained. “She is still one of the most dangerous women in the world, capable of taking out even the strongest of heroes or the deadliest of villains. That’s what makes her a great Pro-Assassin.”

The class snuck onto the staircase with no problems thanks to Bitch-sensei’s distraction. Before he left, Hitoshi glanced back at the woman, adjusting her purse on his shoulder. She was playing the piano, putting on a little show for the men, but they still made eye contact as he left. She smirked and mouthed the words:

_Remember our lesson._

-.-.-.-

Karasuma recommended they pose as snobby rich-kids while they traveled to the next checkpoints to avoid suspicion. Apparently, not only was this resort home to shady business deals, but also the brats of the ultra-wealthy and famous. It seemed to work, with them easily making it past even more hotel security, and Hitoshi was beginning to think they might actually make it in one piece.

“Terasaka, look out!”

But then a dude with a big nose and a Hawaiian shirt threw poisonous gas at them.

Karasuma managed to knock Yoshida and Terasaka to safety, but ended up being enveloped in a cloud of purple fog in their stead.

Fuwa, who had shouted the warning, was touching a nearby chair and scowling. “I should’ve known. I recognize you as the worker who gave us complimentary drinks back at the resort. When I kept bumping into things that gave me flashbacks of you touching them while setting up this little plot, I knew you were no good. You were the one who poisoned our class.”

“Oh yeah, little missy?” Big Nose taunted. “Where’s the evidence? How do you know your puny classmates didn’t just catch some tropical disease?”

Fuwa scoffed. “I’m not so easily fooled. My quirk, History Trace, gives me glimpses the 24-hour history of anything I touch. When you handed me the drink, I had flashbacks of odd substances being put into the drink. At the time, I brushed it off as strange bartending techniques. While that was a possibly fatal oversight on my part, I have no doubt you, as the server, were the one who poisoned the drinks.”

“Wow, Fuwa…That was so cool,” Midoriya said once the girl finished her monologue. Hitoshi noticed the boy shakily reach for his notebook and firmly slapped his friend’s hand down and hissed, “Now is not the time.”

And it really wasn’t. All the sudden, Karasuma collapsed to his knees, and Big Nose chuckled.

“Whatever your quirks may be, it’s very clear you’re not here to trade. The big man will not be happy about this when I tell him,” he said, turning to leave. Without even a signal, the class dispersed in seconds, blocking all exits like their training taught them. Hitoshi broke off the wooden leg of a nearby chair to make a club, holding it menacingly.

“You should have just reported us to your boss instead of confronting us,” Karasuma said, standing weakly. Big Nose sneered and tried to gas their teacher again, but the spiky-haired man lashed out too quickly, kicking Big Nose in the face. There was a bright red light as they connected and the man was knocked out cold.

“Whoa! How can he still move so fast even with the poison eating away at his strength?” Yada wondered aloud, voicing all their thoughts.

“It’s my quirk,” Karasuma announced. The same red light was running over his body, but his knees were quaking as he stood above their fallen foe. Isogai moved to help their teacher stand. “It’s called Kick-Back. I absorb the energy of attacks into my body and harness it for my own use, making me into the perfect super soldier. The stored-up energy from the attack is the only reason I’m able to stand right now.”

“You can’t push yourself like that anymore, Karasuma-sensei. If I understand what you’re saying, your quirk is the only thing keeping the poison from killing you. You need to take it easy,” said Midoriya, while simultaneously leaning onto Nagisa for support.

“That’s slightly hypocritical,” Karma taunted.

Karasuma sighed. “I know. Which means I’m afraid that, for the rest of the mission, it’s going to be all in your hands. I’ll do what I can to instruct you, but if we’re to defeat this enemy, it’ll be all up to your strength as a team.”

-.-.-.-

Their next enemy cracked a glass window with his palm, and it became pretty clear they were going to need a lot more than brute strength to defeat a whack job like this.

Fortunately, they had a Karma.

“So, you call yourself Grip, huh? Not really a clever name, I must say. It’s kind of a dead giveaway for what your quirk is — not that the window doesn’t make it pointedly clear,” the red-haired boy drawled.

“Figured it best to be as straightforward as possible, so the contractors know what they’re getting into,” Grip replied. “It’s not exactly hard. I mean, take a look at yourself. Fiery-red hair, smoldering gold eyes — you probably have some type of fire quirk, don’t you?”

Hitoshi swore he saw Karma flinch at the mention of a fire quirk, and the temperature of the room literally seemed to drop. The devil-boy quickly hid it with a smirk.

“Nope,” Karma taunted. “Just got a brain that works faster than anyone else in the world.”

Grip grinned and popped his fingers one-by-one. “Well, then that will make crushing your skull with my bare hands all the more enjoyable.”

-.-.-.-

A few blows, two canisters of poisoned gas, and a conniving plan by Karma later, and Grip was tied up on the floor on his stomach.

“Does your quirk let you see the future or something? How’d you know to hold your breath for my gas attack?” the professional assassin complained. Karma sat peaceably on the ground in front of him.

“Hardly,” the red-haired boy replied. “My Innate Capability just makes my brain process ten times faster than yours. I knew from the beginning that you wouldn’t fight fair. Not because you’re dishonorable, no, but because you’re merely a minion trying to obey his master’s commands. Playing fair doesn’t allow for that.”

Koroball giggled quietly as the devil boy taunted the captured assassin. “Karma has come so far with his abilities. As his teacher, I must say I am truly proud.”

“What do you mean, Korosensei?” Nagisa asked.

“After his embarrassing flop with end-of-term exam results, it seems our young Karma has learned to utilize the true extent of his quirk. He used to just expect it to do the work for him, requiring no extra effort of studying for him. That’s not how it worked, however. His quirk can only work with what it knows and can analyze, so going into the exam with no prepared knowledge left him with 20% less of his normal skill — as was translated with his B average grades.”

“Oh, I get it,” Midoriya said weakly. “Innate Capability allows Karma to take in the information around him and instantly know the answer. Like in a fight, it seems like his instincts are supernatural, and it’s because his quirk is super calculating your every move. Going in blind, either to a test or actually blind in a fight, takes away one of his senses and therefore a chunk of his processing abilities.”

Shinsou paused and eyed his best friend suspiciously. “How do you manage to think that much when you’re like halfway poisoned? Maybe your secret quirk is nonstop thinking?”

Yoshida scrunched his nose. “What kind of quirk name is that?”

Karasuma sighed. The man didn’t have the energy to deal with their antics when he was healthy, so being poisoned only made it so much worse.

“Can we please focus on the task at hand? Ritsu, where to next?”

-.-.-.-

To get to the top floor, Ritsu mapped out that they had to first go through a staircase located on the club floor. Unfortunately, there were two major problems in accessing it.

“The door is locked from the outside, so someone will have to go through the bar area to get through it. However, usually the lounge area the door is located behind is open access, but there is a special performance event tonight that has left it blocked off. The only way to get last minute access is to be invited by a performer,” the robotic girl explained.

“So not only are a bunch of junior high kids supposed to sneak into a bar, but we have to somehow persuade a performer to let us get backstage access. How are we supposed to do that?” Sugaya asked.

“Leave the first half to us,” Kataoka spoke up, motioning to the girls. “I doubt we’ll have any trouble making our way through the bar. I’m fairly confident we’ll be able to persuade our way into the lounge area too, especially with Yada’s quirk.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s going to work out like you think it will,” Nagisa said, grabbing some poster from the wall. “Yada, your quirk relies on distracting your target first, correct? And you were taught by Bitch-sensei to do it using her methods?”

The young girl nodded and Nagisa turned the poster around for everyone to see. “Well, I don’t think seduction methods are going to work too well with these performers.”

The poster was an advertisement for the exclusive show being held in the lounge. It depicted a woman with outlandish blonde hair, extreme makeup, and very sexual clothing. And it all added up to one thing.

It was a drag show.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hitoshi breathed while the rest of his classmates began to panic.

“Well, how are we supposed to get to the door now?” Kimura asked.

“Easy. We just switch to Plan B,” Karma answered. While everyone tried to figure out what he meant by that, the demon boy side-eyed Hitoshi and grinned wickedly, making the brainwasher sweat-drop. 

“Um. Plan B?” Yoshida repeated. “Are we supposed to know what that means?”

Karma kept eyeing Hitoshi as he spoke. “Isn’t it clear? If we can’t convince a performer to let us in the lounge, one of us will have to infiltrate as one of the drag queens.”

The group blinked collectively, following Karma’s eyes, and Hitoshi gritted his teeth. “No. No way in hell.”

Terasaka burst out laughing. “You mean Turnip-Head over here? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but wouldn’t it make more sense to send someone who already looks like a girl to infiltrate? You know, like Nagisa?” Okano suggested. The blue-haired teen jumped at the mention of his name.

“Huh? M-Me?”

“As entertaining of a sight that would be,” Karma began. “The problem is Nagisa is simply too androgynous, and will likely be mistaken for being an actual girl. While it won’t be a bad idea to dress him up so he can act as extra protection for the girls, someone else will have to be the drag queen. And Shinsou is the obvious choice.”

“I still don’t understand how you reached that conclusion,” Hitoshi deadpanned, trying not to show how much he was sweating. Karma arched an eyebrow and smirked.

“Is that so?” the devil-boy asked. He suddenly held up the purse Hitoshi had been carrying around, and the brainwasher had no idea when or how he got his hands on it. “What’s in this bag Bitch-sensei entrusted you with, huh?”

Karma pulled out a pair of heels and a long-haired purple wig, earning him wide stares from all of his classmates.

“Please, no,” he begged hopelessly, taking a step back. Yada grabbed the condemning items and she and the other female classmates circled him, grinning evilly.

“Oh, yes.”

-.-.-.-

High heels were a demonic, medieval torture device that Hitoshi never in his life thought he’d have to deal with. But now because of Bitch-sensei, he’s felt their painful trap twice. He walked (stumbled) to the entrance of the club as confidentially as someone who felt so ridiculous could. His face felt disgusting with the about of makeup coating it, his outfit was way too tight for comfort, and his feet were likely bleeding.

(He’s just glad he convinced his classmates he didn’t need to tuck. That’s a catastrophe he never wants to endure.)

The bouncer had let him pass without a second glance. Once he was inside, he made eye contact with the girls, who had gone ahead before him to stake out the area. Surprisingly, he didn’t see Nagisa (the only person at this time who knows his pain) with them. They sent Nagisa in also dressed like a girl (though with way less makeup and effort. The boy is about as androgynous as they come) to act as a bodyguard of sorts in case things got out of hand, but for some reason he was nowhere to be seen with the girls he was supposed to be protecting.

He nodded at Kataoka, signaling everything was ago, and she subtly gestured to her left, meaning the entrance for performers was in that direction. Hitoshi turned on his heel (literally) and headed over there, pretending not to hear the catcalls and expertly dodging the hands that tried to reach out and touch him. He was almost at the area blocked off for ‘performers only’ when someone grabbed onto his waist, pulling him flush against their back.

“Hey, pretty lady. I didn’t know the pre-show had already started,” a man whispered in his ear. His breath reeked of alcohol and Hitoshi felt like barfing. “Why don’t you come with me and give me and my pals a special performance. I promise we’ll tip well…”

The man’s hands trailed up Hitoshi’s body and shoved a wad of cash down the purple-haired boy’s top. More furious than he had ever been before, Hitoshi broke out of the hold with a practiced twist and shove, but the disgusting man determinedly held on to his wrist. 

“Let. Me. Go.” he hissed, trying again to break free without making too much of a scene. 

“But we already paid, girly. C’mon, that tip is just the start if you follow me,” the man said, pulling again, and in these heels, Hitoshi almost toppled over. He was about to brainwash the creep into submission when a hand came in and detached the man forcibly.

“Wha-” the man began, and they turned to see the tallest woman Hitoshi had ever seen.

“Sorry. Touching the queens is strictly prohibited. Club rules,” the stranger stated, voice shockingly deep, and Hitoshi quickly realized that it definitely was not a woman. 

The creep quickly backed off, wisely running away, and the tall drag queen motioned for Hitoshi to follow. “That’s why you never leave the stage area, babe. You never know what drunk freaks will do,” the queen said. “At least it looks like you got free cash out of it. Can’t complain too much. Oh, and your wig is crooked. Let me fix that for you.”

Instead of reaching out to adjust it, what felt like a slight breeze blew onto Hitoshi’s head, moving his wig. The drag queen winked at him and unlocked the door to let him backstage. “The name’s Madam Breezy. What about you, my purple queen?”

He was almost ashamed to admit he already had an answer for that. Bitch-sensei was very thorough in her training. “Kitty Masters,” he answered.

“Aw, that’s so adorable. Explains the cat ears. Oh, the audience will love you,” Breezy cooed, and it took all of Hitoshi’s willpower not to cringe. “Well, feel free to take any station. I’m about to head out on stage, but hopefully I’ll see you around! Stay away from the handsy ones!”

The tall queen strutted away, and Hitoshi let out a deep breath. He pulled his phone out from his...bra and pulled up Ritsu’s map. He followed it to where the supposed door should be. On his way there, he passed a large mirror and caught a glimpse at his outlandish disguise. A bright purple wig, not far off from his original hair trailed down his back in oversized curls, and a pair of kitty ears sat on top. His face was caked in so much makeup it was almost impossible to tell who he was — they even got rid of his eyebags! He didn’t think that was possible! All of that plus the annoying padding and the skimpy dress and, well, he looked like a woman.

A weird, purple cat-woman. 

He was going to kill Bitch-sensei and Karma the next time he saw them.

-.-.-.-

Despite the torture Hitoshi had to go through, he eventually found the back door to let everyone through. They were fortunately already there and waiting for him, the girls and Nagisa included. The blue-haired boy had a suspicious red tinge to his cheeks, and judging by the teasing going on, it wasn’t blush caused by makeup.

“Oh, there you are Shinsou,” Karma greeted cheekily. “It seems you missed out on all the fun. Nagisa apparently got hit on by some boy. How was your crossdressing experience?”

Though Karma joked about it, Hitoshi easily noticed the lack of smile on Karma’s face as he talked about some random boy flirting with Nagisa. _You’re so full of shit, Karma._

“The girls reported it seemed like one patron was trying to get a little handsy. I hope everything is okay?” Koroball asked. Hitoshi sighed and nodded.

“Peachy,” he said, taking off his wig and dropping it on Midoriya’s head. “I didn’t leave empty-handed, so that’s a perk.”

He fished the wad of cash out and brandished it to his classmates to make them jealous. Isogai sighed wistfully. “Man, when they say an assassin who can pull off either gender in the field is valuable, they really weren’t kidding.”

Midoriya nodded. “Some of the best killers were known for being completely ambiguous when it came to their gender. Though, I wouldn’t say Hitoshi’s outlandish get-up was exactly ambiguous…”

“Well, whatever it was, it sure was great comedic relief,” Karma said, holding out photos of Hitoshi in drag. The purple-haired boy made a swipe for the phone, but the other frustratingly dodged.

“Nu-uh-uh. I’ve already sent these to Nakamura. She said, and I quote, ‘As a bisexual queen, I’d tap that.’ Wow, aren’t you honored?”

“Alright, that’s enough for now,” Karasuma said. “Hitoshi, Nagisa, change out as quickly as possible. We’re only just approaching this operation’s final phase.”

-.-.-.-

They made it to the VIP floor just to be greeted by more security; only these ones were nothing like the wimpy hotel ones. It seemed these were personally hired thugs.

“Great. Just what we needed,” bemoaned Sugaya. “Getting by the hotel guards was hard enough. Now we have to get past professional bodyguards?”

“We don’t even know whose minions they are,” Fuwa commented.

“Whine all you want,” Terasaka growled, cracking his knuckles. “Either way, we gotta get through these posers too.” 

“Excellent point, Terasaka,” Koroball piped up. “And something tells me that weapon you’ve been hiding will work perfectly for this situation.”

The lion-boy huffed and rolled his eyes. “You really can’t get anything passed ya, huh?”

“Um,” Hitoshi inserted. “Anyone care to clue the rest of us in?”

“How ‘bout you just keep up?” Terasaka challenged. “Kimura, you’re the fastest one here. You lead them toward me.”

Kimura’s eyes widened. “And you expect me to do this how?”

“I don’t know, figure it out!”

Karma actually ended up being the one to figure it out for their speedy classmate, and minutes later the boy was running for his life as two goons chased him down the hallway. Hitoshi glanced at Terasaka, who was waiting behind the corner with Yoshida, and prayed this wouldn’t end in a complete disaster.

Kimura was almost at the target spot, and Terasaka turned around smiling, baring his ultra sharp teeth. “You might wanna plug your ears.”

Not sure what that entailed, Hitoshi and the rest of his classmates did as they were instructed. Midoriya was (unsurprisingly) even kind enough to plug Koroball’s ears for him. Kimura sprinted past them, and the two delinquents leaped into action. Stepping right in front of the bodyguards, Terasaka opened his mouth at let out the loudest, most inhuman roar Hitoshi had ever heard — as if a real lion were in the room.

Huh. Looks like Terasaka found that hidden weapon after all. 

The bodyguards instantly fell to their knees and plugged their ears, giving Yoshida and Terasaka the perfect opening to strike. They each tackled a bodyguard, pinning them to the floor. Yoshida’s bodyguard recovered first and tried to attack, his hands morphing into crab-like claws, but the boy easily counteracted it by shining his bright car headlight eyeball in his opponent’s eyes, blinding the goon. Using his steel elbow, Yoshida slammed it into the man’s head.

Soon, both bodyguards were unconscious, and the class walked out into the hallway. 

“Fancy trick. When did you do quirk soul-searching?” Karma asked. The lion-boy paused, clearly thinking carefully for his answer.

“Uh...I ran into a guy or two that gave me some inside tips,” Terasaka answered, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but think of the white-clad man Terasaka had ‘run into’ earlier in the year.

“Excellent work, you two. I recommend you do a search for anything useful they may be carrying. It could be what saves you further on in the mission,” Koroball said. The two delinquents did as instructed and to the shock of all the students, pulled out something they never thought they’d have to hold.

“Real guns?” they seemed to all voice simultaneously. 

“Yes. And I think Chiba and Hayami should have them,” Koroball continued, making the two typically stoic students jolt. “Their quirks are the best suited for the use of these weapons. It’s not uncommon to see heroes and villains using weapons and technology to enhance their performance. These guns are just the second blade to your already existing quirks.”

The two students took the guns tentatively while Ritsu began to give their next instructions.

“We need to infiltrate the VIP room’s emergency staircase next, and to do that we must sneak through an empty concert hall on the eighth floor. Proceed with caution.”

-.-.-.-

They made their way over there, sneaking into the dark room as stealthily as possible. They barely made it inside before a pair of footsteps, as well as the sound of someone licking something began to echo from the stage. On Karasuma’s signal, they all scattered to hide behind the audience seats. Peering through the crack in between chairs, Hitoshi could just barely catch a glimpse of their next opponent.

And more pointedly, Hitoshi saw the gleaming gun in the man’s hand, aimed right at his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHY I MADE SHINSOU DO DRAG: 1. I wanted someone to crossdress with Nagisa 2. Midoriya is sick so he can't 3. Shinsou isn't androgynous enough to just become a natural woman 4. I was watching Drag Race when I wrote this chapter 5. I THINK IT'S FREAKING HILARIOUS
> 
> Shoutout goes to shayisgay! She requested I mention Nakamura is bisexual. It was just PRIDE month. I totally see it. Now she's Queen of the Bisexuals and that's facts.
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog (Big Nose): Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back (basically Blank Panther’s suit)  
> Grip: Grip (I know I’m so creative)  
> Madam Breezy: Breeze Nudge
> 
> In a nutshell: Bitch-sensei passes on her knowledge and wisdom to a begrudging Hitoshi, 3-E tries to say goodbye to Korosensei and comes so close…but ultimately fail, introducing yet another one of Korosensei’s abilities. Much of E-class suddenly come down with a crippling illness, and the healthy remainder are challenged with a mission to save them against a mysterious blackmailer who asks for the rainbow hair crew specifically. Izuku is showing minor illness symptoms for some strange reason, but he refuses to let that stop him; they run into many obstacles along the way, Hitoshi plays dress up for the sake of the mission, but after all they’ve been through, it’s really just begun.


	7. To Take the Bullet (Ep. 21-22)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter has violence, blood, and other dark themes. The original Assassination Classroom is a bit more cheerful dealing with dark themes...I am not. I hardcore beat up on our boys this chapter, and it'll only get worse with part two starting after this. I literally call part two "The Angst Arc" so...fun times ahead :)

Izuku was fine. No, really, he was.

When his classmates began to fall ill in mass numbers, was so panicked he didn’t even register anything different about his own health. It wasn’t until Shinsou informed him how warm his skin was that he noticed how sweaty he felt, or how shaky his hands were. He felt abnormally tired, as if he had just run a mile, but despite it all, he didn’t feel entirely...sick. And he had no clue why. 

Half of his class was incapacitated while the rest were perfectly healthy, and Izuku felt this weird in between.

There was no explanation for why, and at this point, he wasn’t looking for one. Because the second they got the message requesting him and his closest friends specifically, he knew he had no choice but to accept this as a strange miracle. There was no way he could leave his friends on their own, not with so much at risk. His classmates needed him.

A true hero can’t just give up when he gets injured. And neither can Izuku. 

-.-.-.-

“Fourteen. No, fifteen total,” their new enemy said. There was an odd licking sound before he continued. “Small, likely young. It would seem everyone on this little escapade is here.”

_BAM!_

Izuku bit his tongue to keep from screaming out at the sound of gunfire. He flinched further down behind the chair, heart pounding out of his chest.

“This room is completely soundproof, so don’t bother hoping help will come just because of a little gunfire,” the man continued. “I highly doubt any of you actually have the guts to kill, so I say we just make this easier for—”

Another gun went off, but from a much closer proximity, making his unplugged ears ring. It seemed Hayami had taken a shot at the new perp and missed. Whether it was intentional or not, it certainly caught the man’s attention.

“Well, what do you know. Looks like the little assassin babies are here to play!” the man said and suddenly the stage lights came on, shining upon the audience seats. He aimed his gun and fired close to Hayami’s head.

“Your little hiding game won’t do you much good. My quirk tells me where you all are right now. Every time I lick a piece of metal like my gun, I can sense the exact location of every person touching metal in a 50-meter radius. Came in handy during my time as a military dog,” their enemy explained.

Izuku immediately became hyper-aware of all the metal around him. There was a metal backing on the seats they were hiding behind; their anti-sensei guns had a metal casing; their phones were metal, many small items like zippers on their clothing were metal. With this quirk, their enemy basically had the power to know where any immediate threat was at all times.

“Chiba, hold your fire. Our opponent said his quirk lets him sense metal, but he never said he can differentiate the types. Since you haven’t fired, that means he doesn’t have a lock on you yet,” Korosensei’s voice rang out into the concert hall. To the shock of the students and their enemy, the spherical villain was sitting front row, completely protected in his shell and perfect for being a distraction. 

“Kimura! Run five seats to your left!” their teacher shouted out of nowhere. Likely acting on instinct, the boy did as he was instructed. “Terasaka, Yoshida, run three seats on either side!”

Korosensei then proceeded to yell out instructions to multiple students by name — an odd tactic since their opponent could still sense their location and now had names to go with it.

“Alternate naming system! Student three, move diagonal left!” Korosensei suddenly shouted out. It took Izuku a second before he realized Korosensei was talking to him, and he was referring to his place on roll call. He tiredly stumbled to his spot. “Ponytail, shift your position to the front left! Motorcycle fan, two seats down! The student who’s drag name is Kitty Masters, discombobulate the target by throwing the pieces of your costume at him!” 

“Gladly!” Shinsou shouted out, chucking the clothing items at their target blindly from behind the seat. From Izuku’s position, he watched a stiletto heel nail the man in the forehead and make him bleed. As he doubled over, Izuku realized the true genius of Korosensei’s plan.

He knew the class wouldn’t be able to sneak around their opponent, so he chose to make him as unfocused as possible on the main threat: Chiba’s gun. Having the students run around while naming them intrigued the man so he’d want to memorize them to have the upper hand, but then changing the names to things so obscure befuddles his mind. To top it off, hitting him in the head would only cause more trauma to the brain’s ability to think and focus. Add in how overwhelming his quirk must be given the amount of moving, and you have an incapacitated enemy.

“Okay Chiba, when I give the command, fire at will. Hayami, you’re on follow up to block any invasive maneuvers,” Korosensei ordered. “Now, in lieu of the flubbed assassination attempt earlier today, I have a word of advice.”

_What?_

Izuku was panicking. Why was Korosensei stalling when they had their target right where they wanted him? Was he crazy?

“Just because you failed before, doesn’t mean you can let it get in the way of everything you’ve worked for and built up,” their teacher continued. “Even the best fall short of their abilities from time to time. Don’t think of yourself as a failure just because of a singular misstep. And if you miss the shot, there’s always a fallback strategy. Don’t feel burdened with the pressure when you have an entire class to carry it alongside you. Everyone here has tasted the agony of defeat; learn to take solace in that.”

Though Korosensei addressed the two sharpshooters directly, it was clear his message was universal. Izuku thought back on how he reacted after their grand assassination attempt failed; he had been beating himself up over it. It had been his plan, and his oversight caused them to blow it.

But like Korosensei said. The entire class felt that agony of defeat — and they would not lose a second time.

Glancing back at their opponent, it appeared the man had regained his bearings with the time Korosensei permitted with his pep talk; Izuku could only hope it was intentional. His gun was in his mouth, and he seemed to be trying to locate where Chiba was.

“STUDENT TWELVE! STAND AND FIRE NOW!” their teacher ordered. A few seats behind Izuku, someone popped up, and he watched in horror as they were immediately shot through the head. 

Just as fast, however, someone jumped out from the side, and Izuku realized it was Chiba — the real one this time. The original seemed to be some poster of a person that was moving somehow.

Chiba took aim at the target, and with Ritsu’s instruction, aimed and...missed?

 _Not again,_ Izuku thought as their target laughed mockingly at them, only to be hit in the back seconds later by a stage light. Chiba aimed at the brackets on stage so that the specific light rack would swing down and hit the target. The man tried to recover and take aim at Chiba again, but his gun was instantly shot out of his hand by Hayami. Whether from shock or exhaustion, their opponent passed out to the ground, and Terasaka and Yoshida immediately pounced on him to bind him up. Sugaya appeared from behind the mysterious student twelve seat, holding a cut-out of the poster of the drag queen on a stick with a bullet hole through the middle.

“Glad I grabbed this earlier. Had a feeling it might come in handy,” the gray-haired boy commented. He placed his finger on the corner of the paper and the picture literally came to life, the queen giggling and winking at them. “And to think I’d never see the day my Ink Animation quirk could be used in a successful assassination plot.”

“Have you tried it before?” Izuku asked as Shinsou helped him steady himself. 

Sugaya nodded. “Once, back when we had the assignment from Korosensei. I held up porn magazines to his face and made the girls in pages give him a striptease. I thought it would distract him enough, but he clearly still managed to thwart my attack.”

“Bet you got a sweet deal from him asking you to keep that a secret. Not that any of that matters, of course,” Shinsou commented, throwing the poster a weird look before walking off. “Also, can you please get rid of that poster? I’m trying to repress my memories and that picture of Madam Breezy isn’t helping.”

Izuku paused mid-step. “...Who’s Madam Breezy?”

-.-.-.-

“You know, there’s one thing bothering me about this whole set up,” Izuku commented as they began to approach their desired destination. “Whoever this mastermind leader is, he appears to be pretty clueless about his assets’ strengths.”

“What do you mean, Midoriya?” Nagisa asked, and the entire class paused to look at him. Feeling suddenly pressured, Izuku kneaded his fingers together anxiously.

“Well, um, it’s just that he took professional assassins and had them act as glorified look-outs and bouncers. They weren’t at all set up to brandish their best skill sets. It’s almost as if the mastermind didn’t think of utilizing them.”

Korosensei grinned. “Interesting observation, Midoriya. I’d have to say I agree with you full-heartedly on this one.”

“It makes sense,” Shinsou commented, nodding to himself. “I can even speak from first-hand experience. There’s a lot of times when I brainwash someone but don’t know what they are and aren’t capable of, so I tend to resort to simple, more universal tasks. Just look at our opponents. Grip, if given the right job, could have taken us out by snapping our necks from behind, but the mastermind instead had him fight us head on. A poor waste of assassination skills due to some ignorant planning.”

“So you’re thinking the mastermind’s not an assassin, huh?” Karma concluded. 

Taking in their discovery, Karasuma began to give out their next instructions, but Izuku suddenly found it too hard to concentrate. A wave of nausea overcame him and he reached out for support on the wall, but instead found Shinsou wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“Jolly Green, you’re looking a little worse for wear,” he muttered. Izuku closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to regain his bearings.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. I think I did a little too much thinking and now my brain hurts,” he answered.

Shinsou scoffed. “Yeah, that, or you were infected by a deadly virus and this little miracle blessing that’s made it so minor is now wearing off. You need to stop pushing yourself, Midoriya.”

Izuku shook his head. “No, I can’t. Not when we’re so close. I can’t leave my best friends to face this monster alone, Shinsou, you know that. I have to push through.”

He moved to walk on his own, but his best friend held his arm firmly. “You do realize, Midoriya, that if you keep at it, this could kill you.”

Izuku gently placed his hand over Shinsou’s. “And if I don’t, it will kill our friends. You know this. Heroes never put their lives before others.”

-.-.-.-

They walked in complete silence. Their enemy was in the chair right in front of them, his back facing them. Hopefully he was oblivious of their presence. There was a case next to the chair, likely holding the antidote, but it was visibly rigged with explosives. Karasuma stood in front with his gun, ready to fire if the man reached for the detonator remote. The rest of them were set up to dogpile the man once he—

“The itching. I can’t stop the itching,” rang out a deep voice from behind the chair. Izuku froze instantly. That voice. He knew that voice. 

_But it couldn’t be…_

“It burns. It burns no matter what I do,” the voice said. “Lucky for me, my hypersensitivity is better than ever. It’s like I’m wired to my surroundings.”

Their enemy threw his hands up in the air, releasing dozens of detonator remotes identical to the one next to the explosive on the floor.

“I hope you didn’t think this would be easy. I promised I would remove the octopus from this Earth. Forget the heroes, the government, or you — the little kiddies trying to be Pro-Assassins. I’m the only one who’s willing to do what it takes to save the world.”

The man stood and turned around, and Izuku felt like he had lost the ability to breathe. Flashes of memories plagued him, and he felt like he was back on the school grounds, his energy being forcibly stripped from his body.

“Dammit Takaoka, what the hell are you doing here?” Karasuma said, aiming his gun at the man.

Takaoka looked very different from the last time they saw him. His eyes were wide and crazed, and there were fresh scars on his cheeks, as if he had been clawed by an animal — or himself. His smile was somewhat akin to Korosensei’s but much, much sinister.

“What kind of children try to sneak up on Dad like that? You know better than to behave so naughtily. Looks like you’re all due for a lesson,” Takaoka drawled, and Izuku felt his heart stutter.

Takaoka had been a terrible person; there was no denying that. But for him to stray so far and poison children and hire killers to take care of the rest...this was a whole new level of evil.

“Come along, children. Daddy has something he’d like to show you,” he said, picking up the case wrapped in explosives and walking toward a staircase. He paused. “Oh, and don’t try anything stupid. If you think Daddy won’t hesitate in killing you, you’re sorely mistaken.”

The crazed man laughed as he ascended up the staircase, and the nervous class had no choice but to follow.

-.-

“The looks you’re all giving me tell me you think I’m crazy, but remember, many world heroes are often thought of as mad — and I’m not talking about those goody-two-shoes in capes like All-Might. I mean the ones who really do what it takes to make a difference, no matter the cost. Those Pro-Heroes are all about a moral code, and look down upon important principles like sacrificing the few to save the rest; well, it’s these principles that make progress, and when I’m the one credited with destroying the Tentacle and saving the earth, the world will finally see that,” Takaoka ranted. The man had brought them to the roof of the building, near where the helicopter landing was. It was dark, but Izuku could still see the insane look on their enemy’s face.

“Just you wait,” Takaoka continued. “Once I follow through with my assassination plot, the world will wake up to a new age of heroism. No longer will the moralistic ideals be shoved down the throats of every young child. Instead, a new reality will dawn; a reality where villains live in fear of us, not the other way around!”

“You’re wrong!” someone shouted, and it wasn’t until Takaoka’s eyes trained on him did Izuku realize it was his own voice. The crazed man sneered.

“Well if it isn’t the brilliant mastermind, Midoriya Izuku,” Takaoka hissed, taking a step forward. Shinsou immediately shoved his way so he stood partially in front of the green-haired boy. “When I heard you were feeling a little worse for wear, Daddy was so heartbroken. You are, after all, a key piece for the success of my assassination plot. If you kiddies had just done as you were told and sent the ones I requested, we’d already be done with it all. 

“But, since you did manage to make it, and we have an audience, why don’t you inform your brothers and sisters why you think Daddy is wrong, huh?” Takaoka mocked. 

Izuku trembled (whether from fear or weariness, he didn’t know), but he held Takaoka’s crazed stare the best he could. “You say a true hero should always make sacrifices among the few to save the rest, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. A hero’s job is to save everyone they can, no matter the cost. For a true hero, the only sacrifice that should ever be made is at their own expense. They sacrifice themselves to save the rest!”

Takaoka stared at Izuku murderously for a few moments before scoffing. “Your ideals on heroes are so righteous, it disgusts me. You know, that’s why I requested _you_ bring the target. I was going to trap you and the octopus in a bathtub filled with anti-sensei BBs. This way, when the time comes for the target to revert to its original form, there’s no way for him to do so without setting off an explosion to keep the deadly material away from him — and, in the process, killing one of his precious students.”

The class gasped in horror and Shinsou was now fully positioned in front of Izuku, as if daring Takaoka to try. Izuku could just barely peer around the other’s shoulder to see the enemy.

“You should really think about it, Midoriya,” Takaoka baited. “Like you said, you’d be sacrificing yourself to save the world!”

“Don’t listen to him, Midoriya,” Shinsou hissed. “This man is a monster. If we should be stopping anyone, it’s him.”

“Monster, huh? You’re calling _me_ a monster, you puppeteer freak?” Takaoka growled. “If anything, you brats are the real monsters! Do you even know the repercussions of your little stunt during my time as your teacher? Mocking, gossip, failed evaluations, withdrawal from missions! I was the laughing stock of the military because of it!”

The man started scratching violently at his cheeks. “Every time I think of the humiliation of being taken down with my own knife and getting held down by stupid strings, I get this irrepressible itch! I can’t even sleep through the night! Do you realize what you _heroes_ have done? You’ve condemned Daddy to hell! And I’m going to make you all pay for this grave injustice, starting with the snakes!”

The man pointed his gun directly at Nagisa and then Shinsou, making the class tense simultaneously. 

“Now it all makes sense,” Shinsou commented, despite staring down a barrel. “You requested us so you could exact your revenge. Nagisa and I took you down thanks to Midoriya’s plan, and Karma wasn’t even there during your lessons so I doubt you knew he existed. This doesn’t have anything to do with taking out Korosensei, does it?”

Karma hummed. “You’re probably right, Shinsou. He just wants to even the score, not save the world. He can’t stand knowing school children kicked his ass. Tell me, do you really think hurting little kids will repair your self-esteem?”

“You got beat at your own game, Takaoka,” Shinsou continued, his purple eyes gleaming dangerously. “And even if you didn’t, we’d still despise a piece of trash like you. Korosensei may be a villain, but at least he knows targeting children is taking it too far.”

Takaoka glared silently at Shinsou, and Izuku thought he was just thinking of a reply. Then, without warning, he pulled the trigger.

Everything felt like slow motion. Shinsou crashed down on top of Izuku, and if Terasaka hadn’t been beside him, there was no way he’d be able to catch the weight. Everyone was screaming at once. Karasuma was pushing his way through the crowding students. Izuku glanced down and saw the blossoming red stain forming in his best friend’s right shoulder, and he felt like his world was ending.

Takaoka laughed as he blew away the smoke from his gun. “You really think I’d be dumb enough to respond to _you?_  I’ve already felt what being a puppet to you is like, and I knew I was never going to let it happen again. While you’re right about me targeting the three of you specifically, I didn’t have much of a plan for dear Shinsou beyond eliminating him immediately. Villains deserve to die, after all, and that’s all Shinsou will ever be. And I have no problem with killing the rest of our friends too.”

Takaoka held up the detonator threateningly. Izuku grasped his best friend’s hand and gritted his teeth. Karasuma was using Karma’s jacket to put pressure on the wound, but blood still seemed to be getting everywhere.

At that moment, Izuku completely forgot he was poisoned and ill. Adrenaline filled his veins and replaced his depleting energy. He shifted Shinsou’s head into Terasaka’s lap and stood slowly, facing Takaoka.

“Got something you liked to say, Midoriya?” the monstrous man mocked. Izuku didn’t respond, simply pulled out his anti-sensei knife. Takaoka tracked the motion and burst out laughing. 

“You wanna fight me, huh? A quirkless kid thinks he can stand up against me in a fight? Well, since you lot have already spoiled most of my plot, I might as well kill two birds with one stone,” Takaoka said, picking the case back up and turning towards the stairs that lead to the helicopter pad. “Come along Izuku, Nagisa. It’s time we finally settle things _alone._ ”

Izuku tensed as he watched the man ascend up the staircase, but his attention quickly shifted when he heard Shinsou coughing.

“Don’t do it, idiot,” his best friend rasped.

Izuku shook his head solemnly. “I don’t have a choice. Takaoka still has the antidote, and right now we’re not in any position to negotiate with him.”

Nagisa put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We’ll both try to talk some sense into him. We can’t give up hope yet.”

“You guys can’t be serious?” Kimura spoke up. “Takaoka’s a mad man. He’ll kill you in a heartbeat! He just freaking  _shot_ Shinsou!”

“You’re not seriously going to let them this do this, are you Karasuma-sensei?” Fuwa asked. Izuku turned to his teacher pleadingly. After a moment, the man sighed.

“You have to be extremely careful. Takaoka has clearly shown that he has no qualms with killing children. Take this, just to be safe,” their teacher said, handing Izuku his gun. The boy gingerly handled the firearm before stashing it in the holster where he normally keeps his anti-sensei gun.

Nodding at Nagisa, the two headed up the stairs after their enemy. Halfway up, Izuku cast a long glance back at Shinsou. His best friend was pushing against Karasuma to sit up on his own, holding the jacket to his shoulder himself (even after getting shot, he was stubbornly independent). The brainwasher looked pale and sickly, yet the determined scowl on his face remained despite the pain.

They made eye contact, and a message passed between them silently.

_Save us all._

-.-.-.-

There was a knife waiting for them when they got there. Nagisa stood in front of it but didn’t pick it up as they turned to their opponent.

Grinning cruelly, Takaoka held up the detonator. Izuku instantly whipped out his gun, but before he could fire, the monster pressed the button, setting off an explosion instantly — but not the one wrapped around the case.

The two students spun around and watched as the stairs leading to the helicopter pad were obliterated, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the class.

“Sorry, Karasuma. Can’t let you or the other kiddos interrupt our alone time,” Takaoka said unapologetically. “I wasn’t intending on dealing with two of you in the first place, but I’m sure the revenge will be just as sweet.”

“I don’t know what you were expecting, Mr. Takaoka, but I’m not here to relive our fight,” Nagisa argued, making the crazed man chuckle.

“Well, of course not. I now know not to get caught up in the emotions when I fight you, real or fabricated by your quirk. This fight will be nothing like our first one because this time, I’m actually going to kill you.”

The gasps were audible, and Izuku tightened the grip on his gun. “Good luck with that, Takaoka,” he spat, his finger threatening with the trigger.

Takaoka sneered and held up another detonator. “I’d be careful with your next move, shrimp, or else you’ll be sacrificing a lot more than your own life tonight. So, if you know what’s good for you and the rest of your little friends, I’d put that gun away.”

Reluctantly, Izuku lowered the weapon and placed it back in its holder. Takaoka was right, he didn’t have the power here. The action made Takaoka’s grin grow even larger.

“Good boy, Midoriya. I knew you were a smart one,” he mocked before his eyes shifted over to the blue-haired boy. “Let’s see if Nagisa can do the same. Unless you want me to blow up the antidote, I want you do get on your hands and knees and apologize.”

Nagisa blinked in shock and Izuku instantly jumped to his friend’s defense. “He has nothing to apologize for, Takaoka! He defeated you fair and square!”

“He used a cheap trick with his quirk to get the best of me — making me feel so unsuspecting and then attacking like the snake he is. You only did it because of your lack of skill! A real man wouldn’t need anything but his knife in a fight,” Takaoka argued and Izuku arched an eyebrow.

“That’s not fair for you to say; you used your quirk against us,” he challenged, and was barely able to dodge the angry swipe from Takaoka.

“That was for discipline, and I’ll do it again if you don’t shut up, you quirkless freak!” the crazed man shouted before taking a deep breath and resuming his attention on Nagisa. “C’mon already. I don’t have the patience to wait forever. I wanna see your forehead touch the floor!”

Izuku and Nagisa exchanged a look before the blue-haired boy lowered himself to his knees and bowed. Izuku felt so much anger flare up inside of himself at the sight but tried to hold it in. He kept his eyes trained on the case, trying to think of the bigger picture.

“I’m sorry for pulling a cheap trick and using my quirk to defeat you in a fight. I only did it because of my lack of skill,” Nagisa said, his voice dry and unchanged, yet Izuku couldn’t help but feel like it was overwhelmingly genuine. He felt the urge to believe every word he said—

Oh.

 _You’re a genius, Nagisa!_ Izuku wanted to shout but held it back for the sake of the mission.

“Now apologize for disrespecting me and kicking me out afterward,” Takaoka continued, putting his foot on Nagisa’s head and holding it to the floor. “Such humiliation...you disregarded me and everything I did for you!”

“We’re sorry for the way we treated you,” Nagisa replied quickly. The feeling of genuine trustworthiness was almost palpable. “We shouldn’t have disrespected you in that manner. I’m truly, deeply sorry. Please find it in your heart to forgive us.”

Takaoka grinned and started cackling. “Well, what do you know? I’m starting to believe you. Daddy feels much better — better than I have in weeks. You know, I think I recognize what this feels like…”

Izuku realized where this was going. “Nagisa, look out!” he tried, but it was too late. Takaoka grabbed Nagisa’s neck and instantly drained the boy of all his energy before flinging him to the ground. Izuku knelt at his friend’s side, helpless, while Takaoka laughed, his muscles growing unnaturally.

“Did you really think I’d ever forget what your quirk felt like? The experience haunts me every time I close my eyes; it drives my itch crazy!” he shouted, clawing at his face. “Your friends are going to pay for your mistakes. This is the true consequence of trying to be a hero!”

Before they could react, Takaoka threw the case up in the air. Izuku heard Karasuma shouting and his classmate’s pleas, but it was too late. The crazed man hit the button on the detonator and the case exploded, taking the antidote and their ill-classmates’ only hope with it.

-.-.-.-

Izuku couldn’t breathe. His mind went blank; his body went numb. Jaw loose and eyes wide, he watched Takaoka cackle uncontrollably, as if condemning a group of children to death was the funniest thing in the world. Izuku didn’t even realize he was crying until the monster pointed at his face and laughed.

“This- This is what I’ve been wanting to see! I can’t wait to see the pictures in the news of your classmates’ dead bodies — and don’t forget, you’ll be among them! You may have somehow caught a weaker strain, Midoriya, but Smog’s poison always finishes off its victims!”

Takaoka’s cackling continued, but Izuku could barely hear it over the pounding of his heart. He looked down at Nagisa, sprawled on the ground with his energy stolen from his body; he looked at his classmates, their horror evident; he looked at his best friend, bleeding out from a gunshot wound but still demanding to stand; he looked at Karasuma and Korosensei, and it was clear they blamed themselves.

Without even thinking, Izuku reached over and picked up the stray knife. His breathing was erratic, and he could feel the adrenaline slipping away, the exhaustion settling in his bones again. Takaoka was right; the poison was taking effect, and without the antidote, the end was inevitable. He was going to die.

But not without taking this monster down with him.

-.-.-.-

Izuku was seconds away from becoming a killer, and he didn’t even feel bad about it. All he could envision was the dead bodies of his classmates, and in his bloodlust, he knew he wanted this sicko to be among them.

But then something hit him in the back of the head, and the realization of what he was just plotting to do came with it.

“Knock it off, Jolly Green!” Shinsou shouted surprisingly loud for someone losing so much blood. “You’re better than this and you know it. I saw the look you gave me; I know you want to get revenge for what the bastard has done. Well, if you want to do it for me, for us, then don’t give in to what he wants. A hero doesn’t need to succumb to murder to subdue his enemy. If you give in to the bloodlust, you’re no better than him!”

“Shinsou is right, Midoriya. Killing this man won’t solve anything,” Korosensei added desperately. “I know it may seem like he deserves it, but you cannot stoop to his level. If needs be, we find Smog downstairs and demand he create another antidote; it is his quirk, after all. Please, Midoriya. Don’t use the knife. Don’t give in to the bloodlust.”

Izuku was shaking. Every second that passed, he could feel his body grow weaker. He didn’t have much time left. He’d have to make his decision and act fast.

Looking down behind him, he saw what had hit him in the head — Shinsou’s capture rings. He picked up the two bulky ring-like objects and slipped them on both his middle fingers, like he had seen Shinsou wearing them, but kept the knife firmly in his hand as he turned to his enemy.

“You really think I’m gonna fall for that demonic invention again, little boy?” Takaoka mocked.

“You accused Nagisa of cheating because he used his quirk to take you out,” Izuku said, ignoring the taunting. “Well, I don't have a quirk. You wanna redeem your pride, beating up on a little kid? Well, take it out on me. I clearly have no means of cheating to make up for my ‘lack’ of skill.”

“Pretty bold for statement for someone who is poisoned. Say, how about we make a deal, huh?” Takaoka said, pulling three vials out of his pocket. “I didn’t destroy every last sample of the antidote in that explosion. The octopus says you can just ask Smog to cook you up new ones, but these babies take days for his quirk create at the fastest. If you manage to defeat me, I’ll give you the vials. There isn’t enough to save everyone, but it’s at least enough to save yourself and a few others — or, I guess just others, since you are such a self-sacrificing hero.”

Izuku eyed the vials hungrily. As if taking that as an agreement, Takaoka suddenly kicked out, hitting the green-haired boy and knocking him to the ground. The crazed man laughed as he struggled to stand back up.

“Oh, this will be way too easy. I kinda wish you weren’t already dying on me, Midoriya. It’d be fun to fight you in full force, given you passed your fight to that snake last time we had the chance.”

Izuku barely dodged the next attack but wasn’t so lucky with the follow-up. Takaoka punched him in the face hard, sending him reeling backward. He noted that his energy hadn’t been zapped from his body, meaning Takaoka was true to his word about fighting like a ‘real man’ and not using his quirk. This fact was probably the only thing that gave Izuku any chance.

The green-haired boy tried to roll out of the way but was kicked in the side by his muscular opponent. Izuku coughed and blood came out, making Takaoka laugh.

“Already bleeding and I haven’t even used this yet, huh?” the crazed man said, brandishing his own knife. In the background, Izuku could hear his classmate’s concerned comments, questioning if he’d be able to get up. 

“He’s way out of his league here,” Sugaya whispered.

“This is a massacre,” Kataoka added.

Yada piped up. “Karasuma-sensei, can’t you do something to help?”

“I’m afraid not, Yada. With Izuku holding onto my gun and the poison still in my own system, I’m weaponless and powerless.”

He knew their intentions weren’t supposed to be malicious, but Izuku couldn’t stop the onslaught of memories that flooded in. The countless times he was mocked in class; his mother crying and telling him she was sorry; Bakugou standing above him with his fist raised.

“ _You aren’t worth anything, Deku._ ”

He felt like he could barely breathe. His world began to blur. It was like he could feel like poison rushing through his bloodstream at rapid rates. He took a step forward and stumbled, making Takaoka laugh.

“Pathetic,” he mocked. 

 _Pathetic,_ the little Bakugou in his head echoed. _Why are you so damn pathetic, Deku?_

He looked over his shoulder helplessly and made eye-contact with Shinsou. His friend looked like he was getting worse every second; he had to be supported by Yoshida and Terasaka to even stand, and the jacket being used as a towel was completely soaked through with blood. But despite his weak condition, his best friend gave him the usual smirk and made a small gesture with his hands. It was so subtle Izuku was likely the only one who noticed, but there was an entire explanation behind it.

_Fake and flick._

Plan already forming in his hand, Izuku spun back toward his opponent once again, but this time didn’t dare approach. He let Takaoka circle and mock him with the blade as the man ranted. Testing to make sure the man’s attention was on him, Izuku reached for his gun again. Takaoka’s eyes followed hungrily.

Perfect.

With a flick of the wrist, Izuku pulled the gun out and fired high into the sky, throwing off Takaoka’s attention. While the man was preoccupied with mocking his seemingly terrible shot, Izuku stashed away his knife and gun and whipped out the capture rings. He never personally used them before, but after encountering them constantly in his fights with Shinsou, he understood the general gist of it. 

The weapon operated very similarly to a yoyo, as Shinsou had initially described. The bulky bulb tip of the ring flicked off and the attached string — or rope, as it had noticeably been changed to — trailed after it. The bulb acted as a weight and gave Izuku the ability to wrap the string around something. The first capture ring missed its intended target, but the follow up wrapped cleanly around Takaoka’s wrist. 

Without hesitation, the green-haired boy pulled with all his strength, effectively knocking the crazed man off balance. Takaoka crashed onto the floor, and Izuku made quick work of knocking the blade from his opponent’s hand. Before he could strike again, however, the crazed man recovered and hopped to his feet, giving the string-rope a strong pull. The green-haired boy was barely able to stay upright and quickly released the capture ring’s grip, not wanting to get stuck in a tug-of-war match with Takaoka.

“I told you I wasn’t falling for that again!” the monster spat before charging, swiping his knife at Izuku. The green-haired boy barely dodged and somersaulted backward to give himself some space. Now that he had a feel for Shinsou’s invention, he felt he was ready to incorporate it with the latest skill taught to him by Lovro. If all went according to plan, this match would be done for good.

Izuku pulled his own knife back out as Lovro’s words began to echo in his head.

 _“This technique is perfect for fooling your opponent about your quirk and getting you out of a pinch,”_ Lovro had said. _“You must always meet the three criteria for it to work, however._

_“First, have at least two weapons on you.”_

Izuku stood, tightening the grip on his knife and adjusting the capture rings on his fingers. 

_“Secondly, you must be pitted against an expert.”_

Izuku eyed Takaoka in disgust.

_“And most important, your opponent must already know what it means to face death.”_

When Lovro had first explained that, Izuku hadn’t known what that meant. But now, in the moment, Izuku understood. And he knew that this situation met all three.

Izuku approached his opponent calmly, pushing the exhaustion and fear away. There was no place for that now. It was time for the instant-kill.

“ _This technique is perfect for when you find yourself backed into a corner. Meet the requirements, and it sets you up for an instant-kill.”_

Takaoka was clearly getting more panicked and defensive the closer Izuku approached. His eyes were trained on the blade in the green haired boy’s hand. Perfect. He had to time this just right or else the effect wouldn’t be strong enough. When Izuku was just feet away from his opponent, he lifted the blade slightly and...let it drop.

Takaoka’s attention followed with it, and that’s when Izuku struck. Leaning forward, he brought his hands in front of the man’s face and clapped them together as loud as he could.

From afar, the attack would look childish. But up close and in this tense atmosphere, it was like a crack of thunder. Takaoka fell backward, and that’s when Izuku really struck. He whipped out the capture rings, entangling them on both of Takaoka’s wrists and yanking the man to the ground. His opponent cried out and tried to fight back, but Izuku didn’t let him, twisting the man’s arms around, uncomfortably forcing him to his knees.

Stunned silence quickly followed, save for Takaoka’s hyperventilating. Izuku looked down at the pitiful man in front of him.

It was funny. Despite all of the horrible, monstrous things this man had done, that didn’t stop him from representing such an important milestone in Izuku’s life. Takaoka was the first villain he ever took down. Through their fight, Izuku experienced bloodlust, and learned the importance of having a friend to keep him grounded; to make sure he did what was right. Stopping Takaoka was his first glimpse of what it would be like when he becomes a hero.

And he’s never felt more ready for it.

“You…” Takaoka breathed. “You cheated! You’re a liar! You led us all to believe you have no quirk; made me think you’d fight fair. I should have known better! I should have known not to trust a conniving little demon like you!”

“I didn’t cheat, nor did I lie,” Izuku said calmly. “I really did beat you fair and square.”

“Then how do you explain that little trick? You really want me to believe you defeated me with a normal clap?” Takaoka cried out.

“That was no normal clap, Takaoka, but it wasn’t superpowered either. Just a trick from a master assassin,” he said, smiling. “I really am just a quirkless kid, Takaoka. And I took you down on your terms.”

It seemed hearing that — that Takaoka had been defeated completely at his own game, with no quirk interference to blame — was too much for the crazed man. Takaoka collapsed to the ground and passed out. Surprised, Izuku released the capture rings just as his friend’s cheers came pouring in.

“Oh, yeah! We beat the final boss!”

“Way to go, Midoriya!”

“You did it, man!”

“Number One Hero, Midoriya Izuku!”

Still not quite believing it himself, Izuku turned his head upward. His eyes locked on the permanent crescent-shaped moon.

Funny to think that he would never be capable of any of this — that he would never hear classmates so freely call him a hero — if it weren’t for the villain that destroyed the moon in the first place.

-.-.-.-

Immediately following, Karasuma pulled all remaining antidote samples off Takaoka and handed them to Kimura. 

“Get these back to Okuda as quickly as possible,” their teacher instructed. “Her quirk should let her see the breakdown of what’s inside. We need her to duplicate pronto it if we’re going to save everyone.”

Kimura nodded and raced off the side of the building, his quirk letting him run down the vertical surface as if it were normal. That, combined with the boy’s above average speed, and he was out of their line of sight in seconds, hopefully well on his way to save their classmates. 

Karma came up and gave him a pat on the shoulder before rushing over to Nagisa; the blue-haired boy was slowly regaining his stolen strength and looked relatively unharmed past that. Izuku couldn’t see Shinsou, but that was probably a good thing. The last thing his best friend needed to be doing was walking around and exerting himself any further. 

Isogai, who had been holding onto Korosensei, approached Izuku, and his sphere-shaped teacher gave him a weary but proud smile.

“That was quite the fight you put up, Midoriya,” Korosensei said. “I have to say, for once I had no idea what the outcome would be. You fought more nobly than any hero I have ever gone to combat with.”

Izuku grinned shakily. “Thank you, Korosensei…” he sighed. And just like that, finally coming off his adrenaline high, all his pain and ailment hit him like a ton of bricks. 

Isogai was luckily there to catch him and keep him from splitting his head open on the ground. He was quickly ushered to go lay down, propping him against the wall beside Shinsou. He laid there, feeling closer to death than ever before, when another hand came and grasped his own.

“You did it, Jolly Green.” Shinsou weakly turned his head to look at him. “I knew you could…”

Izuku let out a shaky laugh. “It wouldn’t have been possible if it weren't for you,” he said. “For a second there, I was so close to giving in to the bloodlust; to turning my back on everything I believe. But you reminded me of who I was...thank you.”

Shinsou scoffed but gripped his hand tighter. “Stop it, you’re making me blush.”

Izuku smiled just before harsh coughs raked over his body with hot, sticky blood coming up. He felt his vision splot in and out. He wondered if he was about to start seeing the light like all those cliches said.

“You better not die on me, Jolly Green,” Shinsou said, bring him back down to Earth. “I swear, if we both die holding hands like some cringy Titanic shit, Karma will never let me hear the end of it.”

Izuku chuckled, but unfortunately, that did nothing to help is lulling headache. He felt his world go lopsided as he leaned to the side, landing on what he assumed was Shinsou’s shoulder (thankfully not the injured one). He was just barely able to make out the blurry image of Karasuma above him before he passed out.

-.-.-.-

Izuku woke up in a room he didn’t recognize. From first glance, it appeared to be some kind of clinic, with numerous white beds lining the walls. He wondered how he got there.

But then his memory came rushing back faster than Korosensei at top speed, and the horror of it all settled in quickly afterward.

He sat straight up and looked around frantically. While his view wasn’t the best, it appeared that near every bed was in use, but none of the occupants were moving. He desperately tried to make out a head of purple amongst the masses that he assumed were his classmates, praying that everything had worked and that everyone survived. What if Kimura didn’t get there in time? What if Okuda couldn’t duplicate it? What if the poison had already killed them? Would it have been all his fault? Did he not save them?

“Quiet down, will you?” a familiar voice grumbled. “Some of us are trying to catch up on our beauty sleep over here.”

Izuku turned to his left and found Shinsou peering out from underneath the white sheets. The purple-haired boy looked a lot better than he did on that rooftop; his skin was no longer sickly pale, and his shoulder was bandaged up and arm wrapped snugly in a sling. The slightly glazed over look to his eyes was gone. Instead, they glared at him like he was the most despicable being in the world.

Izuku grinned.

“You’re alright!” he cried — literally cried, the tears already coming down his face in large clumps. Shinsou snorted.

“Yeah. We all are, thanks to you,” he said, gesturing to the other hospital beds. A few more of his previously ill classmates began to stir at the sound of conversation. Maehara sat up and smiled at him weakly, as did Kanzaki. Sugino, who laid in the bed on the other side of Izuku, waved amicably. 

“Kimura arrived with the sample antidote just in time,” Sugino explained. “He came running in like a mad man, screaming about Pro-Assassins and Takaoka and a fight. I’m still not sure what happened to you guys, but whatever did, I’m just glad to be alive.”

Maehara nodded. “Okuda was like a witch, too. She grabbed the antidote, instantly started deciphering the chemical makeup, and whipped up enough to distribute to everyone. It was close, but we did it.”

Izuku brightened at the words, but he still had so many questions running through his mind. “What about me, though?” he asked, turning to Shinsou. “It felt like the poison was finally affecting be like everyone else. How did I get the antidote if we sent it to the resort?”

“Karasuma kept a sample behind just in case. I don’t know how he knew, but like always, he did,” the brainwasher explained, shrugging.

“Karasuma-sensei was poisoned too, wasn’t he? Is he okay?”

Shinsou nodded. “The man didn’t even need the antidote. He said his quirk absorbs attacks to give him power, so I guess the same applies even to poison? I don’t know how that works, but basically, it just fortifies that the man is as an invulnerable beast.”

Laughter echoed at the brainwasher’s words but quickly quieted down at the sound of the door opening, revealing Karasuma and a full-sized Korosensei. Both men looked equally pleased as they walked in.

“Good, you’re all up,” Karasuma said. “We had you transferred to a hospital on the mainland after we administered the antidote, just to make sure there were no further complications. It would seem you’re all in good shape, however.”

“And good spirits,” Korosensei added joyfully. “The others are waiting anxiously outside to come in, if you’re up to it.”

The group of hospitalized students, now all thoroughly awake, voiced their approval, and their teachers stepped away from the doorway. The room was instantly flooded with the smiling, relieved faces of their classmates.

Izuku was instantly rushed by Nagisa, who seemed to be attempting to make doubles of himself like Korosensei and check up on him, Shinsou and Sugino all at once. Karma strolled up seconds later, acting like his usual disconcerted self, but Izuku had a feeling was equally as worried. 

“Seems like you’ve been holding out on us, Midoriya,” the devilish boy said, his golden eyes intense and piercing.

“W-What do you mean, Karma?” Izuku replied, not really sure what the other was implying.

“You were sick too, but it took forever for the poison to take full effect. I wonder why that is?” 

Suddenly all of his friend’s eyes were on him. Izuku shrugged helplessly and tried not to fidget too much under their gazes.

“I...I really don’t know myself. Maybe I took in a smaller dosage than everyone else? I can’t really think of any other explanation…” he said, rubbing his arms absentmindedly. His thumb brushed over a small bump near his shoulder that refused to go away; it had been there ever since the day Shiro came back and injected him with that weird...substance….

_...wait._

Before he could get too caught up in his horrifying speculations, Sugino’s voice stirred him out of it.

“Well, whatever the reason, I’m sure as hell happy it happened. Who knows how this situation would have turned out if Midoriya was down for the count,” the baseball lover said, and the group hummed in agreement, save for Shinsou, who scoffed.

“Please. Jolly Green could have been half in his grave and he still would have demanded to be on the mission.”

The group broke out into laughter again while Izuku pouted.

“Guys…” he whined, making his friends laugh more. Nagisa reached out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, a feeling of warmth and care Projecting over him.

“Don’t get too embarrassed, Midoriya. We’re just laughing because it’s true. You’re undoubtedly the most heroic person I’ve ever met.”

Now embarrassed, Izuku tentatively met the eyes of everyone around him. The confidence and pride he was met with told him they all seemed to agree. Shinsou gave him an assured nod.

Izuku’s heart soared. 

-.-.-.-

Though their time on the resort was cut short, there was hardly any grudge held amongst the students; everyone just seemed happy to be alive. Karasuma informed them that the three professional assassins had been arrested and taken into questioning, and Takaoka was being sent to Tartarus, a high-security prison known to hold the most dangerous of villains.

“You won’t have to worry about him any longer,” their teacher assured them, and Izuku prayed he was right.

Upon being released from the hospital, Korosensei pulled Izuku aside.

“I didn’t get to speak very long with you earlier,” the yellow octopus explained. “I want you to know how deeply proud I am of you. Your performance was inspiring; I hope you realize that.”

Not expecting the sudden praise, Izuku blushed and ducked his head.

“T-Thank you, sir,” he sputtered. He could feel his face heating up; he probably looked like a tomato. “It means a lot coming from you.”

Korosensei’s constant grin widened. “I hope you understand the feat you pulled off. Despite lacking a quirk that might give you an edge, you defeated an opponent most of your classmates, and even a few Pro-Heroes would have been bested by. You used your wit, skill, and heart to overcome him. I know being quirkless has been a concern for you in the past, but how you’ve developed as an assassin is truly commendable. I have no doubt you will become a great hero; maybe the greatest the world will ever see.”

Izuku’s eyes glistened. “You...You really think so, Korosensei?”

Korosensei patted his head with a tentacle. “I’m the World’s Greatest Villain, Young Midoriya. I know so.”

-.-.-.-

So maybe their master attempt at assassinating their teacher failed. Maybe their summer retreat got cut short because of a crazy whack-job. The days may be ticking away before the possible destruction of the earth, but 3-E has already been counting the seconds. They had their mission and knew their target. No matter what it takes, they _were_ going to stop Korosensei before the school year was up. 

They would do anything to save the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part One is done! Whack! Bring on the pain!
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog: Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back  
> Grip: Grip  
> Gastro: Metallic Taste
> 
> In a nutshell: The students take on another pro-assassin, an old foe makes a reappearance, rainbow hair crew has to step up to save their classmates from the ultimate monster, and Shinsou’s shoulder gets put through a lot of pain. Midoriya learns what it really means to be a hero, fights through the illness and the pain, and steps up to make the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone else’s lives. Korosensei reverts back to his original form, and the quest to kill their target continues.


	8. To Question Everything (Ep. 23-27)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Deku! I'm sorry I beat you up last chapter! I didn't hurt you as bad this chapter...kinda...

With their island vacation cut short, 3-E got to spend their final days of summer on their own. Most were catching up on much-needed sleep, while others were spending time with family. Everyone was taking their own time, just to be happy to be alive. 

Hitoshi went to visit his father.

It's been a while since he last visited, he realized as he entered the room; since before he got transferred to E-class. The nurse changing out the IV gave him the same, pitiful smile all hospital staff have when they see him. Her eyes lingered on bandaged shoulder and arm tucked tightly in a sling, but didn’t say anything as she departed. The brainwasher sighed irritably before pulling a chair up next to the bed and taking a seat. 

“You really need to think about redecorating the place, Dad,” he said, taking a look around. “The white and gray aesthetic is really washes everything out. Definitely not a good look for you.”

His eyes landed on a bouquet of withered flowers that he brought the last time he had visited. “Seriously, does no one clean up around here? It’s not that hard to throw stuff away.”

To make his point, Hitoshi picked up the decayed bouquet and tossed it in the bin. In the past, he’d always bring a replacement, but money has only gotten tighter lately. Time that could be spared for shifts was now being dedicated to training and assassination plots.

Collapsing back in his seat, he ran his fingers gently over his bandaged shoulder. “Well, I guess that solidifies that nothing has changed for you since the last time I visited, huh? I’m afraid I can’t say the same for me. Things...things have certainly gotten crazy in the past months. I mean, the moon freaking exploded for one — though I’m sure you already know that. It’s been the talk of the century. If only you could know the whole story, though…”

He glanced up. Even after all these years, it was weird to see his father appear to be sleeping. Before the accident, Hitoshi had only seen his father ‘sleep’ four times — and even that had to be drug-induced by a doctor. His quirk made it so his brain never felt the urge to rest and could go upward to a year without ever sleeping before his body would completely give out. Now, after the accident, a comatose sleep was his only appearance.

Unable to look much longer, Hitoshi cast his gaze back down at his lap.

“So much has happened, Dad,” he said. “I’ve changed so much — and not just in the small, expected ways I’ve told you in the past. Remember how I told you I wanted to become a Pro-Hero? Well, I think it might actually happen now. I have this insane opportunity in front of me, and while it’s not what most people wanting to become a hero would expect to take, I think it’s really setting me up to make the U.A. Hero Course. I have all these friends in my new class; people actually talk to me now. They’re not scared of me like everyone else…”

Hitoshi inhaled sharply as his head shot up to look at his father again. “If only you could see — huh?”

Standing on the opposite side of the bed was Korosensei dressed in his pitiful human disguise and holding some kind of sign. Not even bothering to read it, Hitoshi immediately rose from his seat.

“Uh, something just came up. I gotta go, Dad...bye, I guess.”

He abruptly started pushing at his octopus teacher, silencing all his protests with a sharp hush. Once they were outside the room and the door was closed, Hitoshi spun on his teacher. 

“What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to be spending the rest of our vacation on our own. You know, to recuperate or whatever?”

The octopus sniffled and held up the paper. “We were, but I just got so lonely, so I thought I’d ask everyone if they wanted to go to a summer festival. Please say yes, everyone keeps rejecting me!”

“Maybe it’s because we’re all traumatized from our last summer trip. Or, you know, like to have lives outside of school,” he muttered, which only made Korosensei pout more. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hitoshi finally relented.

“Fine, I’ll go. But you better not come stalking me outside of school again, okay?”

Korosensei nodded, but his excitable attitude had faded away and was replaced by that all-knowing persona he gets when he tries to empathize with you.

“That was your father in there, wasn’t it?” he asked. Hitoshi huffed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“What’s it matter to you?”

“He’s comatose, correct? It’s in your school records.”

Hitoshi paused and sighed as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Has been for nearly six years with little signs of improvement,” the brainwasher said, eyeing his father through the window. “His brain activity is the only sign he’s still alive, though that’s probably because of his quirk; it’s impossible to shut that thing off. The doctors say they think that since his brain is still so active, he likely still can hear and feel everything around him…”

“So that’s why you talk to him?” Korosensei supplied and Hitoshi nodded.

“And why I have to be careful with what he hears,” he said, giving his teacher a pointed glare. “I’m pretty sure the nurses think it’s just some weird coping technique, but it’s not. I’ve already accepted this reality years ago. I just always thought...if he does wake up, I don’t want him to be completely lost. I want him to already know how the world has changed; how I’ve changed. I don’t want him to wake up and not — not even recognize me.” 

His eyes were downcast the whole time, which was why he was so startled when a handkerchief was suddenly thrusted in his face. 

“Wha-?” he swatted the cloth away. “I’m not even crying, Korosensei.”

“I know, but I am!” the octopus sobbed, using the cloth to blow his non-existent nose. “It’s just so heartbreaking to know one of my students has had to endure such pain. Don’t be afraid to cry too, Young Shinsou. As a teacher, I am highly qualified to console students during emotional times.”

Hitoshi tched. “That’s debatable.”

-.-.-.-

Despite how Korosensei was making it out to be, the class turnout for the festival wasn’t actually that bad. He immediately made his way over to Midoriya, who was fiddling anxiously with the gray yukata  he was wearing.

“Not you too,” the quirkless boy whined when Hitoshi approached. “I shouldn’t have listened to my mom when she insisted I wear this. I’m the only boy in the class who wore traditional clothes.”

It was true. While most of the girls were dolled up in bright-colored yukatas, the boys were just wearing the usual street clothes. Hitoshi smirked playfully.

“Sorry,” he said unapologetically. “But I think I’ve had my fair share of dress up for a while.”

That was only partially true. While he was permanently scarred from anything remotely outside his usual wardrobe, he also hadn’t owned a piece of traditional clothing since before his parents died. It wasn’t exactly an expense most foster parents, even the nicer ones, saw as necessary. 

Trying to ease his friend’s discomfort, the duo set off through the festival to check out the attractions, spotting multiple classmates along the way. They passed Chiba and Hayami first, who had apparently been kicked out of the shooting games despite swearing they weren’t using their quirks; Karma, on the other hand, was very openly using his quirk to calculate and call out a game booth for ripping off customers. 

“You know, by the way Korosensei was making it sound, you’d think no one would be here. I only agreed because I pitied him so much about it,” Hitoshi noted as the duo grabbed some shaved ice. Midoriya nodded thoughtfully.

“I heard he got so desperate that he even invited Lovro.”

Hitoshi involuntarily shivered. “Could you imagine a guy like that hanging around a bunch of children at a festival?”

“Hey, he’s really not that bad,” Izuku argued, but still looked perplexed. “It’s weird, though. When I messaged him about it later, all I got was a notice that his phone was no longer in order.”

“Eh, he’s probably on some top-secret assassination gig and had to go all radio silent or something.”

“Yeah, probably…”

The brainwasher sighed and patted his friend’s shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go find a game. I bet I can get more carnival prizes than you, even if I can only use one arm.”

Midoriya smirked. “You’re on.”

-.-.-.-

After Hitoshi crushed Midoriya at the basketball hoops game, a girl with pink skin and hair came running up to them, looking a mix of shocked and enraged.

“How were you so good at that game? You’re even injured!” she said, gesturing to Hitoshi’s sling. The duo glanced awkwardly between each other and Midoriya laughed anxiously.

“Our, uh, schooling gets a little unique at times. Teaches us a lot of odd tricks that end up being surprisingly useful in real life,” the green-haired boy supplied. The pink girl eyed them suspiciously as they all held their breaths before she broke out into a wide smile.

“Wow, that’s so cool! I wish my school would teach me more useful things than boring stuff out of books. I can’t wait until I get into U.A. so I can finally start learning the  _ real  _ stuff,” she said wistfully. Midoriya perked up exponentially.

“You wanna go to U.A. too?” he said, making the girl grin again.

“Ashido Mina, future Pro-Hero at your service! I’m going to learn to be a great hero at U.A. and take down the ultimate villain: the Tentacle!” she cheered, lost in her fantasy and oblivious to the nervous boys next to her. Hitoshi easily forgets that no one else in the world knows of Korosensei’s threat to blow up the Earth in a year. He tried to stomach the bile that arose at the thought.

“Hey, you said you’re wanting to go to U.A. too, right?” she said, spinning back toward them. “What are your names? Maybe we’ll be classmates one day!”

She got uncomfortably close to Midoriya, and he clammed up instantly. “Oh, well, I’m, uh, my name is, uh—”

“Hey, look, the fireworks show is starting!” someone shouted, interrupting the awkward moment. The exuberant girl quickly spun around to look at the sky.

“Oh, cool!” she cheered. “I gotta go, sorry! Catch you later, future classmates!”

The girl — Ashido — scampered off, leaving the two boys on their own again. Hitoshi could only stare, still not quite sure what just happened. Midoriya looked equally lost.

“So…” Hitoshi said, clearing his voice awkwardly. “Fireworks, anyone?”

-.-.-.-

Following the festival, the students of 3-E finally got to spend the remainder of their break on their own time. While at work, Hitoshi caught sight of the day’s newspaper, noting that the main story was yet again about the egg surplus plaguing the nation at the time. For a brief second, he contemplated if it was possible to take advantage of this for an assassination plot.

“Nah,” he ultimately decided, mumbling to himself as he stocked shelves. “Who tries to use eggs in an assassination anyway?”

-.-.-.-

“So,” Hitoshi drawled as the first four classmates joined the jail. “Looks like Karasuma’s pretty tough, even on his own.”

“More like a monster,” Okajima said. “We didn’t stand a chance.”

As their first training assignment getting back from summer break, Karasuma decided to set up a game of cops and robbers, with him and Korosensei being the ‘cops’ and the students the ‘robbers’. The goal was to avoid capture at all costs. Since it would be unfair to be chased down by a supersonic villain, Karasuma was the only one who could tag people out, while Korosensei was in charge of watching the jail (which he was taking very seriously, if his police costume was anything to go by).

And Hitoshi, still injured and forbidden from participating, was put in charge of passing out the worksheets for those thrown in jail.

“C’mon, dude, aren’t you supposed to be on  _ our  _ side?” Okajima protested as he passed out their punishment. The brainwasher shrugged nonchalantly.

“I don’t really believe in taking sides,” he said, trying not to get too much joy out of Okajima’s “ _ Oh, come on, really?”  _ that followed.

Hitoshi sat on his phone, texting back and forth with a panicking Midoriya — “It’s like he’s everywhere and nowhere, Shinsou!” — and tried to not get too annoyed with the sling around his arm. Really, he should be grateful. Not only does he get to sit out of physical education, but he also gets a free pass on all the jail homework assignments. 

Sugaya and, oddly enough, Bitch-sensei have joined the jail circle by the time Shinsou spots Sugino (who, if he recalls, was traveling with Midoriya, Nagisa, Karma, and Okuda) signaling to Okajima. He’s not sure what they’re planning, but considering who Sugino is with, it’ll probably work.

He tries — like, really tries — to remain impassive as he watches Okajima pass a sexy picture of the new Pro-Hero Mt. Lady, evening moving courtesy of Sugaya’s quirk, to their teacher. But as he sees Korosensei take the bribe and willingly allow Sugino to run by and tag everyone in, he can’t help but glare at his teacher.

“You know, for such a powerful creature, you really can be so pitiful.”

Korosensei just cried as he buried his face in the pornographic picture. “I know!”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi was at work again, taking the early shift before school and was restocking the shelves next to the magazines when he saw  _ it _ . And without much of a second thought, he grabbed the affronting object and marched it right to the hands of his fellow E-classers. 

“Uh...you okay, Shinsou?” Midoriya asked, almost looking too scared to see what Hitoshi slammed on his desk. The brainwasher made some flailing hand motions, too disgusted to speak, and Midoriya read the magazine cover aloud to their curious classmates.

“A Neighborhood Shaken! The Tentacle Spotted Targeting F-Cups and Above. Number One Villain Turned Underwear Thief?” 

“What? Let me see that,” Nakamura said, snatching it away and quickly thumbing through the articles. “Gross! I mean, we all knew he was a pervert, but this is a new low, even for him.”

“Gooooood morning class! How are we doing to- eh?” the octopus in question stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the deadly stares he was getting from his students.

“Alright, creep, it’s time to come clean!” Terasaka demanded, grabbing the magazine and shoving it in Korosensei’s face.

“How could you do such a thing, sir?” Kanzaki asked. 

“What? No! These are unbacked accusations! I’m innocent, I swear!” their teacher cried.

“Oh yeah?” Hayami challenged. “Well, since your reputation won’t do much for you, what’s your alibi for the nights of the attacks then?”

“Ali-what?” Korosensei croaked. “Class, c’mon, you know me better than this! I’m an outstanding citizen, I swear!”

“You’re the Number One Villain in the world, sir,” Nagisa deadpanned, and their teacher sweatdropped.

“Please, you gotta believe me! Anyone? Isogai?”

The male class representative, ever the peacekeeper, held his hands up placatingly. “Let’s be rational, guys. Sure, Korosensei is a creep who reads adult magazines, takes pornographic pictures as bribes...and stares at pinups during recess...and sends weird messages to Pro-Hero Midnight’s agency...wow, you really are a pervert.”

As even Isogai turned his back to their teacher, Korosensei cried out in despair, his panic evident. Hitoshi rolled his eyes.

“Why don’t you just prove your innocence, huh?” he suggested, and the octopus perked up.

“Of course! Follow me, class, I’ll show you what a changed man I can become!”

They followed their teacher to his office, where he proceeded to publicly throw away his...immense...collection of adult magazines. Just as he reached the bottom, however, instead of pulling out more pornographic material, he held a bright purple...bra?

“You’re joking, right?” Terasaka said, and even Hazama seemed disgusted. 

“Hey, what’s this?” Okano said, picking the roll call book off desk. “Korosensei...did you write our cup sizes next to all of the girls' names?!”

“What?” Hitoshi and many of his classmates echoed as they scrambled to get a look at the list, looking at the handwritten info listing how Yada was an E cup, or how Okuda was an A. Then he felt his brain malfunction when he passed over his own name.

“Why the hell do I have a letter next to my name?!” he screamed. “Did you freaking measure me when I was dressed up in that stupid disguise?”

Midoriya had to hold him back, which was probably a good thing, or else he would have forgone his injury altogether and attacked the pervert right then, right there.

“No, please you gotta understand, this is just one big misunderstand—” their teacher begged, scrambling to find something to redeem himself with, but instead just ended up pulling out more stacks of bras.

Hitoshi felt like he was gonna barf.

“Disgusting,” Okano spat as the class turned a cold shoulder to their whimpering teacher.

“What an embarrassment,” Hitoshi muttered as he walked away, pointedly avoiding the roll call book (not even  _ he  _ knew that the bra for his drag disguise was a C cup). “Jolly Green, you coming?”

The quirkless boy was the only one who hadn’t moved, looking alarmingly concerned and lost in thought. He jumped when he heard his nickname.

“Huh? Oh, y-yeah,” he sputtered, leaving the room and shooting looks back the entire time.

-.-.-.-

“Something’s not right,” Midoriya said, breaking the silence as the class sat in a teacherless room. Korosensei was too ashamed to attend the day’s lessons.

“Yeah,” Sugino agreed. “Our teacher is the world’s biggest pervert.”

“No, I mean,” Midoriya argued, taking a deep breath. “Sure, Korosensei has a bit of a pornography problem—”

“A bit?” Hitoshi muttered. 

“—and yeah, his addiction is quite concerning, but the whole situation with the bras being everywhere...it just doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t understand, Midoriya,” said Nagisa.

“I do.”

Karma reached under his desk and tossed Nagisa a basketball with a pink bra wrapped around it. “Found this in the storage shed,” he said. “Just sitting in plain sight. Now, we all know Korosensei is no idiot. His entire world is dedicated to being our teacher. And you don’t need a quirk like mine to know what he’d choose if it came down to his assassination or our respect for him.”

It was true. Korosensei would likely rather die than let his class think so lowly of him. 

“Okay, but then who’s the sicko doing all of this? The reports distinctly say the criminal spotted resembled the Tentacle, and I don’t know about you, but there’s not exactly an abundance of yellow flying octopuses in this world,” Nakamura argued.

“An imposter,” murmured Fuwa, capturing the class’s attention. “Nagisa, pass me that ball.”

The blue-haired boy did so, and the aspiring detective carefully placed both hands on the object. Her eyes flashed white. “I see now. While whoever doing this has a face that looks very similar to Korosensei, they have human hands, and they seem to have deliberately planted this ball in the storage shed. It’s a fake sensei! Oldest crime troupe in the book!

“This means,” she continued. “Someone out there is framing our teacher and we have to catch them! Who’s with me?”

“I am,” Karma volunteered, surprising everyone. The devil-boy was usually the last to volunteer for anything, except maybe beating someone up. “I don’t know what motivation the real culprit might have, but we need to put a stop to it before the rumor mill runs Korosensei out of town, taking our bounty with him.”

“And if we do catch the fake, the octopus will be in our debt,” Hitoshi noted, and Karma smirked. 

“Looks like we got a perv to catch.”

-.-.-.-

In the end, their mission team ended up consisting of the rainbow hair crew, Fuwa, and strangely enough, Terasaka. Fuwa had them hiding outside some camp for entertainment groups where a girl group was supposedly staying. According to Takebayashi, there was 99.78% their criminal would strike here next. Hitoshi just hoped they were right because he snuck out after curfew for this, and he’d rather not let it be for nothing. 

“Whatever,” he mumbled after Fuwa finished her genius detective spiel. “Just wake me up at the good part.”

His eyes were barely even closed before Midoriya was elbowing him in the side. 

“Look!” the quirkless boy hissed before he could even protest. 

On the opposite side of the treeline, they could see Korosensei sneaking around in a suspicious dark get-up.  

“I really hope he’s here to catch the fake too because that outfit’s doing nothing to help him,” muttered Terasaka. 

As if being summoned, a second yellow-headed creature jumped out of nowhere and began snatching underwear that was hanging on clotheslines at an alarming speed — but not a supernatural one. Which meant Korosensei barely had to try to pin the imposter down.

“How dare you try to impersonate me and embarrass me in front of my students! Who are you? Show us your true face!” 

The group of students stood from their hiding spot to get a better view of the imposter, so they all had a front-row seat as the fake-sensei’s head began to shrink down, revealing...a man Hitoshi did not recognize in the slightest.

“Hey, isn’t that one of the agents that work for Karasuma?” Midoriya asked — because of course he’d recognize a random face like that. “What motive could he possibly have for—”

Out of nowhere, a large white contraption sprung up, trapping Korosensei and the fake inside. 

“The government kindly loaned me one of Karasuma’s men to act as a decoy to lure you in,” a chillingly familiar voice said. “We made this trap out of anti-sensei sheets, making it easy for anyone but you to escape.”

Brandishing his typical white uniform, Shiro walked out from the shadows as the decoy agent crawled out of the trap, and suddenly it felt much harder to breathe.

“We were inspired by the admittedly impressive plan your students devised on the island. Lure, confine, and strike, isn’t that right, children?” Shiro said, glancing back at them. Hitoshi could have sworn he saw the man’s beady purple eyes lingering on Midoriya.

“Prepare for your death, Korosensei,” the white-clad man said, snapping his fingers. A shadow passed over them, and Hitoshi looked up to find Itona floating above them with anti-sensei material weaponized on his tentacles. 

Without hesitation, the tentacle-wielding boy attacked, lashing down inside the trap at lightning speed. The white sheets made it impossible to see inside, so Hitoshi could only assume that Korosensei was dodging the best he could in there; however, the occasional hiss or yelp hinted how well he was faring. 

“Shiro!” Terasaka called out. “I should’ve known you would be behind a scheme like this.”

Shiro hummed. “Fortunately for us, the predictability of this outcome was overshadowed by the circumstances around it. Your teacher was so blinded by the desire to prove himself to you students that he completely overlooked any sort of threat.”

Hitoshi gritted his teeth, feeling helpless. It seemed that Korosensei and Itona were exchanging words, but without any sight or visual of how the battle was progressing, he didn’t know how he could even help. Gritting his teeth, he recalled their past effort to stop Shiro and Itona, and how they succeeded by separating the two. While he might not be able to stop Korosensei’s outright attacker, he could still target the mastermind.

Lashing out with his good hand, he released his capture rings, successfully lassoing them around the white-clad man’s arms. The man grunted and was able to break one arm free in just a few calculated maneuvers (it would seem, despite constantly sending a child to do his bidding, the man wasn’t  _ completely  _ defenseless), but it was enough to temporarily distract Itona and give Korosensei a chance to recuperate. 

Shiro growled once it became evident that Itona was losing yet again. “You insolent brats are causing much more trouble than you’re worth,” he stated, grabbing onto the remaining rope and pulling. The move was enough to make Hitoshi stumble, and since he was down an arm, he didn’t have anything to catch himself with. Just before he faceplanted, however, Midoriya jumped in and caught him.

“You should know by now that I have no issue sacrificing you all for the sake of my success,” Shiro sneered, reaching into his robes and pulling out another strange, dangerous device, and  _ again  _ he was eyeing Midoriya  _ way  _ too much for comfort and—

“Not on my watch, you don’t!” Korosensei called out, and then suddenly the trap began to glow from the inside. “My assassination experience with the kids on the island taught me how to harness the energy of my ultimate defense form into the tips of my tentacles instead of my whole body. After all, assassination is education, which means the teacher can only grow stronger with every lesson!”

The glow just intensified, and no one had a chance to brace themselves before the world became nothing but light.

-.-.-.-

As everything slowly regained its normal coloring, the first thing Hitoshi noticed was that his capture ring had finally retracted. The second thing he noticed was Itona’s screaming. 

The boy rolled out of Korosensei’s tentacles and withered in pain, crying out about how much it hurt. Even their teacher looked at a loss for what to do.

“The pain of defeat has become too much to bear,” Shiro said emotionlessly, like his (ward, protégée, tool?) wasn’t crying out. “The tentacles on his head are attacking his brain now. It’s a shame, really, but I guess it goes to show that it’s time to cut your losses before they grow too great. I need to move on to my next project anyway. So long, Itona.”

Shiro started to walk away, much to everyone’s horror. 

“You can’t just abandon Itona like that! You’re his guardian!” Korosensei cried out. 

“Says the villain playing teacher,” Shiro mocked, pausing for a moment. “You feign concern for them when you bring terror to the world. Mark my words, Korosensei. I will stop you. I will kill you. And I’m not above targeting your precious students to do it.”

Before anyone could react, Shiro pulled out his mysterious weapon again and fired an oddly colored ball of electricity at Midoriya. The boy went down with a scream matching Itona’s, and Hitoshi instantly felt blinded with rage.

“You bastard!” he screamed, lashing out with his capture rings again. This time, however, Shiro was prepared and easily batted them away with a scoff.

“Your little toys won’t stop me. Nothing will,” he said, and without a glance back, the white-clad man disappeared over the fence. Before anyone could go after him, however, Itona let out a pained, gut-wrenching cry, his tentacles going haywire. Korosensei barely managed to jump between him and the group of students, protecting them from being struck. Immediately following, Itona shakily stood up, launched into the sky with a pained scream and disappeared as well.

“What’s wrong with him?” Nagisa wondered aloud, but Hitoshi wasn’t really listening. He made a running dive for his best friend, who was lying on the floor and groaning quietly.

“Midoriya!” he cried out, frantically hovering over his barely-conscious friend. “Shit, are you okay?”

His friend whimpered as Hitoshi pulled him into a seated position. “Y-Yeah,” Midoriya whispered, his body all twitchy from the strange electric attack. “Just a little...a little woozy.”

Korosensei appeared on the other side of Midoriya and gently scooped the boy into his tentacles. “Better not do anything to strain yourself, my boy,” he comforted. “We don’t know what that attack did to you yet.”

“What are we going to do, Korosensei?” Fuwa asked, and their teacher sighed. 

“Shinsou, I want you to stay back with Midoriya and make sure he’s okay. As his teacher, it’s now up to me to make sure Itona is safe.” Korosensei blurred and quick-changed into his usual teaching uniform. 

“Can we come with you, Korosensei? We want to help!” Nagisa asked. Korosensei paused, looking conflicted.

“Alright, but if it seems to become too dangerous, I will send you all away. But for now, the more eyes looking, the better. Who knows how long we have to save that boy.”

-.-.-.-

The group ended up tracking what they believed to be Itona fairly quickly after Ritsu reported a string of bizarre cell phone business attacks popping up into the area, leaving Shinsou and Midoriya camped out in their hiding spot. The green-haired boy was recuperating well, all things considered, and was only twitching every once in a while now. The tremor in his hands, no matter how hard Midoriya tried to mask it, concerningly remained.

“Jolly Green,” Hitoshi said cautiously. “Are you positive you’re fine? I will brainwash you if you keep lying to me and you know it.”

The corner of Midoriya’s mouth quirked up, just to fall back into a frown. “I feel fine now...physically, at least.”

“And mentally?”

“Mentally…” The boy trailed off, his eyes growing disconcertedly distant. “This buzzing in my head won’t go away, and I don’t know, it’s just. I know I’ve gotten a lot stronger this past year with training and Korosensei’s help; there’s no denying that. It’s just...sometimes I just feel so  _ weak  _ and — and it’s moments like this that make it so much more obvious. Makes it feel like I’m just kidding myself.”

“Midoriya…” Hitoshi tried, but his friend kept plowing through.

“Like, I keep telling myself that I can become a hero, that I’m able to fight an enemy most heroes can’t, that I’m becoming strong. But at the same time, I’m still quirkless, and  _ nothing  _ will ever change that. Even if I defeat the one enemy All-Might couldn’t stop, that doesn’t mean I’m anywhere near as strong as All-Might. No matter how much I train, it’ll never be enough.”

The boy kept mumbling to himself, most of it becoming unintelligible at this point, and his distress was escalating fast. Knowing he had to act now, Hitoshi moved in front of his friend and forcibly grabbed his trembling arms. 

“Midoriya,” he said, but it fell on deaf ears. “Midoriya. Jolly Green.  _ Izuku. _ ”

That finally got the boy’s attention. He froze instantly, looking at Hitoshi with wide eyes.

“Wha—”

“ _ Calm down. _ ”

He didn’t wait a second to brainwash his friend into submission, not feeling the least bit sorry about it. If he let Midoriya’s mental state escalate any further, who knows what kind of situation they’d be stuck in.

Like always, the effects were instantaneous. The trembling stopped, his breathing evened, his mumbling ceased. Shinsou held on for a few moments longer, just to be safe, before releasing his quirk, as well as his hold on Midoriya’s wrists. They sat there as a tense moment of silence passed before Midoriya released a shaky breath.

“T-That’s how you used your quirk when we first met,” his best friend whispered. Hitoshi couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ll do it again too if you continue to be a self-deprecating ball of anxiety.”

They both chuckled at that before settling into a much more comfortable silence. Midoriya shifted so he was sitting upright and stared him down intensely.

“Shinsou. There’s something I need to tell—”

Out of nowhere, an explosion went off, filling the area with a suffocating smog. Hitoshi frantically reached out and grabbed onto his friend’s sleeve, unable to properly see him anymore.

“I apologize,” Shiro’s voice called out (where did he come from?!). “Along with pretending to cast the boy aside, I needed to isolate little Midoriya here. I hope my weapon didn’t wound you too badly.”

Someone clad in white (not Shiro though. A lackey, maybe?) knocked the two boys apart, sending Hitoshi to the ground hard enough to hit his head. Despite the fog from the bomb and the pain in his head, he was able to make out the sound of some kind of mechanical contraption going off, quickly followed by Midoriya screaming. He pushed himself free of the smog just soon enough to watch in horror as his best friend, trapped in a net, was carted in the back of a truck and taken away.

In a blurry panic, Hitoshi pulled out his phone and pulled up the emergency line Ritsu monitored.

“Ritsu,” he said, coughing the smog out of his lungs. “Contact the class. We’ve got a Code Red.”

-.-.-.-

After hearing that Shiro took Itona  _ and  _ Midoriya, Korosensei tried to take off on his own, claiming he was the one who let Shiro get this far, so it was his responsibility to put a stop to it. Fortunately, no one listened to him.

E-class snuck up on the scene completely undetected to find Korosensei being slowed down by pressure rays and fired on at all corners. Laying at the feet of the evil mastermind, both unconscious and trapped in separate nets were Itona and Midoriya. Just the sight of it made Hitoshi’s bloodlust almost boil over.

By the time Isogai finally gave them the signal to attack, he was buzzing with energy. As gracefully as a one-armed person could, he jumped down from his branch and kicked his target out of the tree and to the ground. Many of his other classmates did the same while the ones of the floor focused on tying up the subdued foes.

“Sorry to drop in on you like this,” Karma mocked Shiro. “While taking Itona was one thing, I’m afraid capturing one of our own is simply unacceptable.” 

Korosensei, now no longer being fired on, came to a stop next to his gathering students. “Excellent work, class!” he said. “Now, Shiro, I highly encourage you to step down. If you refuse, I promise I will not hold back. Once you involve my students, I simply cannot ignore such a threat.”

Shiro was silent for a moment. “How infinitely irritating your class is proving to be,” the white-clad man muttered. “Nonetheless, I’ve finished my business here. You can keep Itona if you so desire. He’ll only live for another two days anyway.”

And with that, Shiro disappeared yet again. Hitoshi instantly moved in to free his best friend from the net and breathed a sigh of relief when Midoriya groaned in response.

“S-Shinsou?” he mumbled, and Hitoshi couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, I’m here, you troublesome shrubbery,” the brainwasher said, glancing at his hovering classmates. “We all are.”

-.-.-.-

Korosensei said that they couldn’t remove the tentacles until they managed to get Itona to drop his fixation on winning. Not even their genius teacher knew how to do that — though it was probably because absolutely no one could have foreseen Terasaka and his gang. 

They came out of nowhere and swooped the suffering boy right up, saying things like how “We mutant quirks gotta stick together” and other stuff like that. Using a bandana made of anti-sensei material to keep the tentacles in check, they towed him around all night doing the kind of stupid things you’d expect from a dumb delinquent group, all while the remainder of E-class watched the bubbling disaster from afar.

“Dear lord, this is a travesty,” muttered Hitoshi after watching Yoshida, who was showing off his quirk at his family’s race track, launch Itona into the bushes. 

“I feel like we should take cover,” Midoriya, who was doing better but still leaning on Hitoshi for support, responded. 

It seemed the green-haired boy had the right idea. Itona’s tentacles broke out of the bandana and the boy was screaming at the group about wanting to win. Yoshida, Muramatsu, and Hazama very sensically started to run away, but Terasaka, the idiot, stood his ground like the overly proud, stupid lion he was.

Just when Hitoshi thought Terasaka was going to be made into a fur coat, the lion boy stopped Itona’s tentacle with his hands and roared using his quirk, making the earth rumble. 

“Look, you’re not the only one with a useful quirk to help you win, bud,” Terasaka growled loud enough for everyone to hear. “But hell, if I’ve learned anything during my time in this sappy class, it’s that it doesn’t matter how strong you are when it comes to killing the octopus. His power will always outnumber yours, so snap out of it!”

Terasaka slapped a furry hand on Itona’s head, but instead of lashing out, the white-haired boy just looked even more shocked. 

“The only way we’re gonna take the dude down is together, with all of us using our quirks to become stronger than him. And it doesn’t matter that we’ve failed a hundred times before; we’re in this for the long run, and it only takes one time to win against him. If you do it our way and succeed with us, you can use the prize money to revive your father’s company. C’mon, man.”

“Oh yeah? And what am I supposed to be doing until then?”

The lion snorted. “You act like an idiot like we did tonight to pass the time. It’s a simple solution.”

At that, Itona lowered his head and the dangerous fire in his eyes finally went away. Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck, genuinely impressed.

“Wow. Looks like my number one puppet is finally walking without strings,” he said, and Karma laughed.

“Please. He’s just saying what only an idiot can say. We’re just lucky it happened to work.”

Korosensei approached Itona holding tweezers with all of his tentacles. “Well, what do you say, Itona? Ready to get rid of those painful tentacles? I promise, what you lose in individual strength will be more than multiplied in that of joint prowess.”

Itona smirked. “Sure. Whatever you say, sensei.”

-.-.-.-

“So,” Hitoshi said during their morning ritual training session the next day. “What the hell happened with Shiro?”

Due to Shinsou’s arm still being wrapped in a sling, their morning sessions had become a lot less fighting and a lot more talking. Which, given the exhausted state his best friend looked to be in the moment, was likely a very good thing.

“C’mon, Jolly Green, don’t give me the silent treatment. You look like you’re trying to beat me the eyebag contest; something’s clearly up.”

That at least got a small smile out of that one. “I’m not sure it’s possible to do that.”

Hitoshi snorted. “Yeah, yeah, you’re a real jokester. Seriously, Izuku,” he said, trying the first-name basis out again. It seemed to work well last time. “What the hell happened with Shiro?”

Midoriya gnawed on his lip. “Nothing much, really. He talked a lot about how his quirk allowed him to see a percentage every time he looked at someone, telling him what their potential was for a given situation. And apparently, I had the best potential for luring out Korosensei while causing the least amount of problems.”

They sat in silence for a moment, Midoriya’s shoulders drooping more and more before Hitoshi scoffed. “Well, seems his quirk was dead wrong. The dude failed big time last night. I bet he’s eating his words now.”

“Yeah,” Midoriya mumbled, though with noticeably less enthusiasm as usual. “You might be right.”

-.-.-.-

Turns out, the biggest shock of the week wasn’t the Korosensei pervert scandal, nor Terasaka’s gang stepping up to save the day. It was the reveal of Itona’s actual quirk.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT’S YOUR QUIRK?”

After class, Midoriya had noticed Itona tinkering away with a strange device. When asked what he was doing, the white-haired boy explained that he was building a remote control tank to assassinate Korosensei with. That in of itself wasn’t that big of a deal; E-class students were well known for combining their hobbies into their assassination plots, like Sugino with his baseball. 

No, it wasn’t until Midoriya asked how Itona learned to be so well-versed with technology that the commotion started.

“Well, my parents always said I was a prodigy with technology,” Itona stated flippantly, not even looking up from his work. “Though really it’s just because my quirk allows me to communicate with any electronic I touch.”

Hence, the riot.

“Honestly, I’m not sure why we’re all that shocked,” Hitoshi pondered while holding back a raging Terasaka. “Considering the vast majority of the world has a quirk, it’s not surprising he had a different quirk before the tentacles.”

“That’s not Terasaka’s issue here,” Hazama said, the creepy shadow appearing out of nowhere. “It’s that he’s in the gang, but he doesn’t have a physical or mutation quirk.”

Midoriya looked horrified. “Is he going to kick him out now?”

Muramatsu literally howled in laughter. “Please, Terasaka already admitted he considers Itona a part of his ‘pride.’ There’s no going back now.”

“Yeah,” Yoshida added. “He’ll probably just sulk for a little while before going back to normal.”

All the while, the white-haired boy just kept tinkering with his shockingly high-tech looking device, completely undisturbed by the chaos.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you just assumed I had a mutant quirk because of the tentacles,” Itona said dispassionately. The kid didn’t even blink at the resonating roar that followed.

-.-.-.-

“Uh, Shinsou… What are you doing?”

Midoriya leaned over the desk to get a better look at Hitoshi, who was rifling through Korosensei’s desk as discreetly as possible. Though, with his friend standing out in the open and staring at him, it was honestly kind of pointless. 

Hitoshi sighed after turning up empty in yet another stack of papers and moved on to the next. For an over-powered octopus, it would seem organization was not a skill he acquired.

“I’m trying to find where Korosensei keeps his roll book.”

Midoriya blinked. “Um. Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? So I can burn its existence off the face of the planet.” Another stack left unsuccessful. “Stupid creepy octopus writing bra sizes next to students’ names. I’m not even a girl, you freak.”

He opened up the right-side drawer and was finally greeted with his prize. “Ah-ha! Hope Korosensei can get a replacement because this is — huh.”

Hitoshi paused in his campaign for destruction momentarily, making Midoriya perk up and ask, “What is it?”

The brainwasher held up the sheet to his best friend. “Kimura’s given name is Masayoshi...his name is literally Justice if you don’t write it out in kanji.” 

Midoriya blinked and took the paper for himself. “Huh.”

-.-.-.-

“Aw, did you really have to point that out?” bemoaned Kimura after the duo brought their findings to the attention of the class. “I’ve just been lucky that Korosensei is nice enough to say it my way. My parents are both police officers and, well...”

Hitoshi covered his hand with his mouth to hide his snickering. “They must be  _ very  _ passionate about being cops.”

“Now, now,  _ Shinsou Hitoshi.  _ You don’t exactly have much room to talk,” Karma teased. “If you break your name down in kanji, it literally means ‘to use the mind to manipulate’. Isn’t that funny?”

Hitoshi glared at the devil-boy, completely deadpan. It only made Karma smile wider.

“That  _ is  _ kinda funny, Shinsou,” Fuwa commented. “It’s almost like you were named by a manga writer or something!”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Wait, Karma. Why are you commenting on people’s names?” Nagisa asked. “Out of everyone here, don’t you think yours is the most...odd?”

Karma arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean? I happen to quite enjoy my name; I think it’s rather fitting.”

The class sweatdropped unanimously; you can’t say the boy doesn’t know himself. 

“Is that why you have us call you by your given name instead of your family name?” Kurahashi asked. 

“Hmm? Oh, no, not entirely. It’s also because I’m adopted, so I’ve never exactly felt any claim to my family name.”

Adopted? That was news to Hitoshi. While he knew Karma came from a well-to-do family with travel-obsessed parents that led to their frequent absence, he would have never guessed that Karma of all people was adopted. Before he could question this fact any further, however, Korosensei appeared with a sinister smile on his face.

“Don’t feel too bad students! I, too, am not satisfied with my name!”

“Huh?” Sugino frowned. “I thought you liked being called Korosensei?”

“No, not that name. I mean the incredibly derogatory codename given to me by the media.  _ The _ Tentacle, really? What an insult to my many other squiggly limps!”

The class rolled their eyes at their teacher’s playfulness, while Yada perked up considerably. “Hey, what if we started going by codenames in class? I mean, it makes sense given  _ our  _ classroom environment and all. Pro-Heroes use them, and considering our mission is to take out a villain, we’re kinda like hero-assassins!”

Korosensei grinned. “Brilliant idea! Here, we’ll have everyone write down a suggested codename for each of your classmates, and whichever one I draw randomly will be the name they have to go by for the rest of the day; real names will be forbidden. It’ll be so much fun!”

-.-.-.-

This most definitely wasn’t fun.

To test out their new codenames, the teachers set up a little game of ‘Catch Karasuma’, where their P.E. teacher ran through the forest and it was their job to coordinate and take him out by shooting at paper targets pinned on front and back of his shirt. It was a simple enough drill, but there was just one problem.

“Puppeteering Crossdresser! Do you copy?”

Hitoshi swallowed down a growl. He swore, he was going to find out who submitted that name choice and he was going to  _ crucify them.  _

“Yeah, President Poverty, I copy,” he begrudgingly answered into his walky-talky. 

“Straight Lace has just escaped from Womanizing Scumbag and is headed towards you and Notebook now!”

Midoriya groaned at the mention of his nickname but lifted his gun nonetheless. “I don’t think I like this whole codename thing anymore.”

“Yeah, well, it’s definitely not going to be my first pick for my hero name, that’s damn sure,” Hitoshi muttered, holding up his own handgun. He may still be down a hand, but this task was simple enough that he convinced his teachers to let him participate so long as he took it easy. “Besides, you could be having it  _ way _ worse right now. I submitted ‘Toe Joints’ for your codename.”

“Shinsou!”

-.-.-.-

Despite their bumps and bruises, their little band of E-class misfits was actually starting to come together. And with every passing second, they got closer and closer to killing their teacher and saving the world. To becoming heroes.

For the first time in his life, Hitoshi felt happy to be covered in bruises because they symbolized him getting stronger, not getting another beating from a foster parent or sibling. His home life no longer bothered him because, for the first time since he was eight, he had a group of people to call his own. A family, of sorts.

So it only made sense that someone would soon come in to tear this all down.

-.-.-.-

“My, my, Shinsou. What a surprise to see you here.”

Hitoshi froze in his shelving, his blood turned cold at the voice. He feared turning around and tried to keep his breathing as even as possible.

“Funny, Asano. I wasn’t aware corner-store convenience stores were such a hip shopping place for rich and spoiled teens.”

Asano snorted at the (admittedly pitiful) jab. “Well, I wasn’t aware the school reversed its policy regarding student employment.” Hitoshi tensed. “Oh, wait, it hasn’t. This would be another infraction on your record if the school found out.”

“So what, Asano?” Hitoshi said, finally spinning around to face the smug boy. “You report me to the school and what? They move me down to E-class? You and I both know the school code only expels students for having a job if it's their second time with the offense.”

Asano’s smirk only seemed to grow. “Right you are, Shinsou. But you see, when I first learned you had a job, I did some searching. After all, there are more ways than my quirk to uncover things about people. I was curious as to what would push you take on employment in the first place; was it immense poverty in the wake of an ill loved one, like your precious class representative?”

Hitoshi tensed up at the mention of Isogai. If Asano noticed, he didn’t show it and kept plowing on.

“So imagine my shock when I went searching into your funds. The money your parents left behind pays for your tuition, but you can’t access it personally yet. And even though the government pays your foster family compensation — and a hefty amount at that, since you’re marked off as a ‘dangerous inhabitant’ — you still need to work a side job just to pay for the bare necessities such as food and clothing. Now, I don’t know what that looks like to you, but it appears your foster family is withholding care from you; an offense that most certainly needs to be reported.”

And just like that, Asano’s angle became crystal clear. He knew — he  _ knew  _ how reluctant foster families were to house children with ‘dangerous’ quirks like Hitoshi. It was only by some miracle that he happened to find a house near Kunugigaoka; if Asano filed a report of negligence, he would be transferred to a new home and would almost certainly have to move far away. Far from the humble 3-E building. 

“Alright, Asano,” Hitoshi said, standing so he could stare the equally tall boy in the eye. It was dangerous, standing so close to Asano, but he could care less right now. “What’s your play? What do you want from me?” 

“I would say I want answers in regards to whatever shitshow you and your little classmates have been cooking up the past few months, but I know you’ll never give those up. So instead, I propose we play a game.”

“...a game.”

“You see, I’ve already challenged your classmates to a competition of pole-toppling at the Sports Festival. However, given your...mysterious and unfortunate injury, you won’t be able to participate with the rest of your class. So instead, I challenge you to a simple game of strategy.”

“Strategy?” Hitoshi repeated, feeling like a parrot at this point. 

“Yes. You see, while the pole-toppling will certainly be the main event of this A vs E class battle, there are multiple events throughout the day, allowing students to show off their physical skill sets and quirks. You will plan and organize which members of your class compete in which event, and I’ll do the same for mine. Whoever gets more first-places wins. It’s very simple.”

Hitoshi inwardly laughed. Nothing related to one of Asano’s schemes was ever ‘simple.’ But, in the end, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

“Alright. And  _ when _ I win, this report and all the info you used to uncover it needs to disappear. Got it?”

He held out his hand, shamelessly pulling his sleeve down to cover his palm so Asano couldn’t use his annoying quirk. Asano eyed the action, looking an odd mix of grim and amused, before taking the covered hand and shaking it.

“So be it.”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi called his best friend the moment his shift was over.

“Midoriya. You’re not going to believe what—”

“Shinsou! Have you heard about Isogai?!”

“...no. What happened?”

“Asano showed up at his work and threatened to report him, which would mean expulsion for Isogai! They managed to make a deal, but now we have to beat A-class in pole-toppling!”

“Oh. Wow.”

Hitoshi, of course, already knew all of this from his interactions with Asano himself, but hearing Midoriya fret so openly, he decided to keep his situation to himself. The class was already under stress as it is; the threat of losing their class representative and leader was terrifying. Revealing his own threat would risk them overstressing, which could lead to more mistakes. It’d be best if they remained oblivious of his situation. 

Fortunately, pulling strings was one of his best talents. 

“I don’t know how we’re possibly going to win; even if we’re better trained, their class is twice the size of ours!”

Hitoshi hummed. “It’s even worse considering I’m not allowed to participate in hard physical activity for another two weeks.”

“You’re right! What are we going to do? And what are we going to do about Asano’s quirk? He can use it unregulated in the Sports Festival — not that that’s ever stopped him — and if we touch him trying to take down the pole, he could learn about Korosensei!”

“He can’t use his quirk unless he touches your skin, so everyone will have to be as covered up as possible and dodge him, which shouldn’t be too hard, given our training. Really, don’t worry, Jolly Green. Just remember, we have Isogai to lead us.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” There was a slight pause. “Wait, Shinsou, were you going to say something earlier? I’m sorry if I cut you off.”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing really.” Hitoshi reached down to pick up his bag and noticed one of his notebooks hanging out. An idea popped in his head. “Hey, actually...do you think I could borrow some of those quirk journals? Specifically the ones for E-class.”

-.-.-.-

Late at night, long after his foster siblings fell asleep, Hitoshi slipped out onto the rooftop with a notebook and some paper. Spending his insomniatic nights on the roof had become a bit of a ritual once he started learning tricks like how to fall off a building and not die in E-class.

He pulled out the journal, smirking at the label:  **Quirk Analysis to Stop Korosensei.** He thumbed it open, scanning over the entries. Korosensei was the first one; his analysis went on for three pages, with an additional two left blank as they learned more and more about their powerful sensei. Next was Okano, followed by Isogai, all the way until Itona. He quickly flicked passed his own entry, feeling awkward and vaguely embarrassed seeing his quirk analyzed so thoroughly. He had by far the longest entry after Korosensei.

Oddly enough, the shortest one was Karma, which just had the basic description listed, followed by a giant question mark and a note that said  **Suspicious circumstances around ‘quirk’ use. Needs further exploration.** Weird. After all, Innate Capability was confusing to Hitoshi too, but he figured if anyone could understand it, it'd be Midoriya.

He scanned the list of Sports Festival competitions. It was fairly standard; lots of various races, from sprints to obstacle to bicycle, as well as a 5x5 tug of war, and multiple different jumping and strength-based tasks. He started with the obvious — Yoshida was the clear pick for the bicycle race, and Kimura for the sprints...and the obstacle race. No, he didn’t want to overburden his classmates by having them compete in more than one competition. Damn, looks like strategizing was gonna be a lot harder than he thought. 

He started skimming the journal to know what he was working with.

**Sugino Tomohito**

**Quirk: Energizing**

**Description: Able to transfer the user's own energy into inanimate objects to increase energy, more specifically used to increase speed.**

**It's a type of energy manipulation. The human body has a lot of energy. In the average adult male, the energy stored in fat is equivalent to a one-ton battery. There are five main types of energy: heat, kinetic, mechanical, chemical, electrical, and potential. Further discovery would have to be made to know which one Sugino can harness. He ability lets him supercharge things he throws to increase its speed potential, like his baseball. Balls of paper can be made like rocks. How fast he can throw an object is unknown.**

**Known Quirk Applications: Increasing the speed of something, increasing the impact force of weapons and possibly his own hits, possibly store energy to replenish stamina?**

**Questions that keep me up at night: Why can't he thrust energy into biological organisms? It has the potential to help people heal (as according to Recovery Girl's quirk) and could even possibly boost other people's quirks if he could. Also, can he harness energy to do something other than increase speed? Say, charge a phone?**

**Conclusion: Needs more testing**

Hitoshi couldn’t help but snort at the sheer dorkiness of the analysis, but he had to appreciate the thoroughness of it all. It was obvious how much thought Midoriya put into these journals. And it definitely got Hitoshi thinking.

If Sugino could increase the speed of objects, should he be put in a race? But the analysis says it’s only been shown to work toward inanimate objects, not himself, so it didn’t really help much... except.

Hitoshi grabbed his sheet of paper and erased Yoshida’s name. Time to mix things up.

-.-.-.-

With the rest of the class was obsessing over and strategizing for the pole-toppling task, Hitoshi was able to approach Karasuma relatively unbothered. 

“Hmm? What can I help you with, Shinsou?” he asked, looking up from his work. 

“Well, you see, sir, since I’ve been frustratingly forced out of commission, I’ve been trying to think of ways to help the class at the Sports Festival even though I can’t directly contribute.”

Karasuma arched one of his pointed eyebrows and nodded. “I see. Well, what have you come up with?”

Hitoshi wordlessly passed his sheet of competition placements. His teacher was silent as he scanned down the list, his stoic face giving away nothing. After finishing, the teacher lowered the paper and met Hitoshi’s eyes.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you come up with some of these entries? You put Sugino in the bicycle race, and have Kimura for the obstacle race instead of sprints. You also signed Hara up for one of the racing events. Why?”

“You see, sir, Kunugigaoka takes inspiration from U.A.’s Sports Festival — something I believe you’re  _ very  _ familiar with — and allows students to freely use their quirks during the festival competitions. With that in mind, I think we could exploit some of the more unique aspects of the classes’ quirks to reach success. 

“Sugino’s quirk allows him to energize objects he touches to increase the object’s speed; by that logic, he can greatly increase the speed of his bike by touching the wheels. Kimura’s quirk, while it does make him faster than the average human, allows his feet to adhere for short units of time to surfaces, depending on how smooth the surface is and how steep the incline — hence why his freerunning and parkour skills are the best in the class. The obstacle race is a much closer fit for him.”

Karasuma looked genuinely impressed, his eyes racking over the list once more. “And Hara?”

“The final task in that particular race is to eat a sweet bun dangling above from a string, which is actually quite difficult. While she may not be the fastest runner, she can blow through that task so fast with her Goat Bite that it won’t even matter.”

His teacher nodded before taking the paper, folding it up and putting it in his pocket. “I think this just might work. I’ll make sure to double-check with your classmates before I submit it, but I think you’ve got yourself a winning strategy here.”

Hitoshi scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. “Th-Thanks, sensei.”

-.-.-.-

He had been a little worried that his classmates would be so caught up with the pole-toppling competition that they wouldn’t put any effort towards the other tasks. Thankfully, he was proven wrong. His classmates blew through the competitions even better than he expected, stealing first place like it was nothing. 

He made eye contact with Asano halfway through the day, and it was clear the boy was furious. Hitoshi just smirked. It wasn’t all that big of a surprise that E-class was dominating; not only did they have excellent assassination training, but Asano was probably stretched thin trying to devise a strategy for both the pole-toppling  _ and  _ this. He gave Hitoshi a golden ticket by only putting one task on his plate. 

“Wow, you guys are doing amazing! Phenomenal! And to think just months ago you refused to use your quirks against me!” a disguised Korosensei cheered, taking pictures of them like some proud dad. “Your quirk compatibility with these competitions is excellent. Did you pick them out yourselves?”

Hara, proudly wielding her first place ribbon, shook her head. “No. I’d never sign myself up for a race on my own accord, but Karasuma presented the line up to us. He said someone in the class came up with it.”

All eyes turned to the Data Duo, who immediately sweatdropped and held their hands up.

“Don’t look at us!” Midoriya squeaked.

“Yeah,” said Nagisa, shrugging. “I’ve been too stressed with pole-toppling to come up with something like that. Whoever did this had to have a lot of time on their hands.”

Practically uniform, the class turned their heads together eerily slow. Hitoshi, who had been messing with his phone the whole time, glanced up and blinked to see so many people staring.

“Shinsou…” Midoriya said. “Didn’t you borrow my quirk journals earlier?”

Feeling oddly anxious, the brainwasher shrugged. “What? I wanted to help crush A-class  _ somehow. _ ”

“Aww,” Karma cooed in his ear, appearing behind him out of nowhere. “If you really cared so much, you should’ve just said so!”

The devil-boy pinched his cheek, and Hitoshi contemplated if he valued satisfaction or his life more. 

He chose satisfaction and judo flipped Karma to the floor. 

(He got a long lecture from Korosensei, Midoriya,  _ and  _ Karasuma about doing ‘such dangerous stunts’ while his stitches weren’t fully healed, but it kept him safe from Karma’s instant-retaliation, so he couldn’t complain.)

-.-.-.-

He cornered Asano long after the festival ended; after E-class walked away victorious in every aspect. It was partially because he wanted to gloat his success in that smug bastard’s face, but it was also because he wanted to guarantee Asano didn’t go back on their deal.

He found the boy outside Principal Asano’s office, which was the last place Hitoshi wanted to be near. Shoving his hands in his pockets and making sure most of his skin was covered, he approached Asano with a cocky smirk.

“So, you gonna make good on your word, or do I need to make you?” he mocked. Asano looked over at him, and it was then that he realized how bizarrely…frazzled Asano looked. It was unnerving to see the boy look like that.

Asano scoffed, clearly trying to hide his panic. “Despite what you may think of me, I am a man of honor. I’ve upheld my end of the bargain with you E-class pests before, and I’ll do it again.”

Hitoshi snorted. “Good. I hope I won’t see you around, Assano.”

Before Asano could reply — and before Hitoshi could disappear far, far away from here — the principal’s door slammed open, revealing the monster himself. Despite every instinct in his body screaming for him to run, the brainwasher found himself completely frozen in place.

“Oh? What’s going on here?” 

Hitoshi’s heart stuttered, and he hated how just the man’s voice could paralyze him with so much fear. If he ever had a bad relationship with someone in his foster home, he was typically defiant and belligerent. Yet with Principal Asano, every fiber of his being just wanted to hide. 

When it became obvious that neither boy was going to reply, the principal tsked his teeth. “Boys, if you could give us some privacy.”

At first, Hitoshi thought the principal was addressing him and Asano, but he very quickly realized he was talking to the group of young men now filing out of his office. Hitoshi recognized it was the foreigners A-class recruited for pole-toppling, but they looked… different. Their faces were dark, their eyes were hollow, and they were practically drooling bloodlust as they zombie-walked passed them. Victims of Principal Asano’s manipulative brainwashing.

“Come inside now, boys.”

This time he  _ was  _ talking to them, but Hitoshi felt like doing anything but complying. Yet, somehow, he found himself trailing after Asano inside the office. 

The doors were barely closed before the principal spun around. “Now. Who’s going to answer my question?”

Neither boy moved. Both had their eyes glued to the floor, barely even breathing. Hitoshi was surprised Asano didn’t turn around and rat him out to save his own ass, but he wasn’t planning on questioning the good faith.

Unfortunately for them, the principal was not a very patient man. “Not going to answer me, huh? Well, never mind that.”  He lashed out quick and grabbed Asano by the jaw, his hand pointedly gloved. “There are other ways I can get my answers.”

For once, Hitoshi pondered what life for Asano must’ve been like. Growing up with a father so cruel, who will so blatantly invade your secrets but never indulge any back. He wondered if Asano had ever touched his father’s skin since he developed his quirk. The answer was probably no. 

In his pondering, he failed to realize the principal had turned to look at him before it was too late. “Shinsou. Don’t tell me you’re trying to stop my son from reporting your abuse. It seems to me that he’s only trying to help.”

Hitoshi’s blood turned dangerously cold, and he tried desperately to mask his true feelings. He kept his eyes trained on the floor and his lips sealed tight.

The principal sighed and stepped back, forcibly letting go of his son, who hissed in pain. The man walked back to his desk and took a seat, placing his locked fingers on the table in a manner that screamed ‘Evil Overlord.’ 

“I’m afraid this is simply unacceptable,” Principal Asano declared. “I cannot allow students to be put in harm when I’m knowledgeable of it.”

“That’s ironic,” Hitoshi couldn’t help but mutter, but then quickly snapped his mouth shut when he remembered Asano was right next to him. The boy was staring at him, clearly curious, and Hitoshi refused to look his way.

The principal hummed. “Well, I simply cannot let this go unreported any longer. I’m going to contact your social worker at once.”

“You can’t!” Hitoshi shouted without thinking. His head shot up before he quickly returned his gaze to the floor. Who knew it was so hard to talk to someone without eye contact. 

“You can’t tell her. I know you know why,” Hitoshi spoke again, this time much more evenly. “They’ll send me away and  _ can’t  _ leave this school. I can’t leave E-class. And I know you know the reason for that too.”

It was clear the younger Asano was growing frustrated with such cryptic talk, and probably would’ve lashed out already if his father wasn’t in the room. Principal Asano, on the other hand, in the brief second Hitoshi glanced at him, looked unnervingly amused. 

“Oh Shinsou, who ever said that you’d be sent far away?” he said, leaning back in his chair. Hitoshi decided he didn’t like the direction this was headed. “As an educator, I have all the certification to take in any poor, lost child in need.”

Nope. He’s definitely not okay where this is headed and he needed to get out of here  _ now.  _

Laughing lowly to mask his panic, he leveled a glare at the window behind Principal Asano’s head. “Yeah, I’d rather get moved to the opposite side of the planet than be under your care.”

The principal had the audacity to laugh back. “But weren’t you just saying you  _ can’t  _ leave?”

Hitoshi’s brain short-circuited as he tried to find a comeback but altogether stopped when the younger Asano grabbed his sleeve.

“Alright, Father,” he hissed, looking right at the principal. “What’s your play here? We both know you’re not equipped to take on another child, nor would you ever want to.”

Principal Asano laughed again. “On the contrary. I think it could provide a unique and useful opportunity for me.”

“Like what? Access to my brainwashing?”

Principal Asano stopped laughing, and Hitoshi realized that he was actually right. He scoffed and pulled his arm free so he could cross them haughtily. 

“You know, it must  _ suck  _ having to go through so much to bend the mind to your will. Having to go through the work of taking the brain and turning it inside out yourself. I bet having a charge who could do it in seconds would be your life dream.” 

Hitoshi dared to meet the principal’s eyes, building up his mental wall in defense ahead of time. “Like I said. I’d rather be sent far,  _ far  _ away before that’d ever happen. I’m not the one who gets used as a puppet, and I’ll never be your pawn.”

With that, he spun on his heel and high-tailed it out of the room without a glance back. It was probably the first time a student had ever left the principal’s office without being dismissed, but Hitoshi didn’t care.

He was probably going to die either way.

-.-.-.-

(He didn’t end up dying. Days passed after the incident, yet his social worker never showed to take him away. He pointedly avoided the main campus at all costs, which wasn’t too hard when your classroom was located up on the mountain. He tried to ignore the feeling of impending doom that had settled into his body. And something told him it wasn’t just because of Principal Asano.)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout goes to Directionally_Challenged for writing a quirk analysis for Sugino that I summarized and put in this chapter! Your help has really made me think of 3-E's quirks in so much more depth. You're amazing! 
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog: Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back  
> Grip: Grip  
> Gastro: Metallic Taste  
> Shiro: Potential  
> Itona: Technopathy
> 
> In a nutshell: Shinsou visits his dad, their summer break comes to a close and Shinsou and Midoriya meet an interesting pink-skinned girl, and our brainwasher struggles with having one movable arm. Korosensei’s integrity (and pornographic addiction) is called into question, Shiro the creep lays his nasty hands on Midoriya, Itona frees himself of his tentacles, gets inducted in a gang, and reveals his true quirk. As one does. Codenames are given out, risky wagers are made with Asano Jr, and Asano Sr is a terrifying human being.


	9. To Fail to Protect Them (Ep. 28-31)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just saying, in my very biased opinion, I think this is the best chapter I've ever written. It gets so intense and dark and everything flowed really well. It's just pain and angst and oof, and I love it.
> 
> I'm slightly concerned for myself too.

Izuku should’ve known from the beginning that something was off. Something within him just wasn’t quite…right. It was small and festering, but he could tell it was sinister.

And when Shiro shot him with that beam, it came alive.

-.-.-.-

He hadn’t exactly been lying when he told Shinsou what happened with Shiro. Because, really, all the man did was talk. It was just the words that were exchanged that he chose to keep secret.

He didn’t remember much about being kidnapped by Shiro’s men. The fog clogged his senses and the never-ending white noise that started buzzing immediately after Shiro shot him just grew louder and louder, and it hurt worse than anything he had ever experienced, worse than being poisoned, and his head felt like it was splitting into two and—

And the next thing he knew, he was being pulled out of the vehicle and thrown to the ground. Shiro stood before him, and an unconscious Itona was next to him, and the white noise kept roaring in his ears.

“It’s strange,” Shiro said, barely understandable with all the competing sound. “Of everything I’ve encountered in my line of work, you children are continuously proving to be the most…shocking.”

The man began to pace and Izuku, bound in a net, could only watch. “You see, my quirk allows me to look at someone and see the potential they hold for a given situation. What that situation may be depends on which one is most pressing in my mind. As a boy, it was incredibly difficult to know what my quirk was trying to tell me; how was I supposed to know what on my mind was most important? As a grew, I learned to contain my quirk; to concentrate it so I would know for a certainty what it was telling me. The simple trick of obsessive behavior allowed me to always only have one situation on my mind. For a while, it was my research — discovering a breakthrough in science no other can match. Now, it’s become killing the monster that’s threatening to destroy everything.”

Izuku didn’t know where this was headed, but he knew he didn’t want to find out. He struggled frugally in his bonds.

“So you can imagine my surprise when, in my efforts to annihilate your teacher, I came across a curious prospect reading 99%,” Shiro drawled, and Izuku stilled. “Far higher than anything I’d ever seen; higher than even Itona." Shiro laughed. It was hauntingly hollow. “And to find he, of all prospects, is _quirkless,”_ he spits the word like it’s a disease, “was by far the most amusing. This boy, defenseless and insignificant, has the greatest potential of us all to destroy the most powerful beast in the universe.”

Shiro turned to him, and his purple glowing eyes felt like they were burning Izuku’s skin. He struggled once again in the bonds and hated how weak he felt. It was like the evil man said — he was defenseless. He was a deku. And the way this man looked at him, so greedily, while Izuku could do nothing, made him want to scream.

“So I thought to myself, how do I guarantee victory? How do I make that 99% become 100?” Shiro chuckled. “Of course, the answer was crystal clear. The same way I made Itona go from 80% to 90% — tentacles.”

The white noise was screaming and becoming increasingly more sensical, almost sounding like whispers at this point. Izuku closed his eyes and tried to push them out. 

“Ah, you’re starting to hear them, aren’t you? The tentacles are trying to speak to you. You won’t be able to understand them for a little bit; they’re just barely starting to develop. You see, when I realized the potential you had, I injected the seeds in a more dormant form, knowing from experience they need to incubate for a while if the host is unwilling. The process typically takes a year, but unfortunately, we don’t have that time, so I activated them with the blast. You’ll have to stick to a strict regimen if you want to live longer than a few months, but you won’t feel pain like Itona. Your quirklessness guarantees that.

“You see, the body sees tentacles as a virus; however, the first defense isn’t the immune system like regular viruses; it uses the physiological existence of a quirk to fight it off. The average body interprets the tentacles as a threat to its quirk’s power — which makes sense given the tentacles are another quirk — and will try to fight with it for dominance. The tentacles always win, of course, but it’s excruciatingly painful. But since you’re quirkless, well, your body just accepted it fully. It had no defense system.”

Izuku gaped, barely processing what was being said. “You… Y-You mean—”

“Yes, Midoriya Izuku. Though it’ll take time for the tentacles to fully develop, you too will soon harness the greatest weapon known to mankind.”

He couldn’t breathe. The whispers turned back to white noise and roared in his ears. He couldn’t stop shaking. Shiro just seemed to find his shock even more amusing.

“Surely you recognized the signs of something within you changing? While the seeds were dormant, they weren’t completely inactive. You’re a smart boy, Izuku, you had to have noticed it.”

Suddenly, his one question leaving summer break made perfect sense. “You mean…the tentacles kept me from feeling the effects of the poison?”

Shiro nodded. “Had they been active, they would have destroyed it completely. In their hibernative state, they did the best they could keeping it mild; something that, I’ve heard, ended up saving the lives of many of your classmates. I believe a thanks is in order.”

It was Izuku’s turn to laugh. “You think…” he rasped. “That I’m going to thank you for making me your guinea pig?”

Shiro sneered at the term. “ _You_ are not my guinea pig, Midoriya Izuku. You are not what my contractor paid me to create. You are simply my next tool in stopping that monster. Whether you choose to receive assistance from me or act alone is your choice. I’ve given you what you need to gain 100% potential as an assassin. It’s up to you to use it correctly.”

Before Izuku could retort, one of Shiro’s men called out, “The Tentacle has been spotted and is on his way, sir!”

“Ah, yes,” Shiro drawled, taking one last look at Izuku. “I’m afraid I have business to attend to. Keep my words in mind; when you reach your decision, you know how to contact me.”

The man plunged a needle into Izuku’s neck, and the world turned dark in seconds.

-.-.-.-

The white noise slowly turned to whispers again, and those whispers only grew louder and louder. Every day he looked in the mirror, expecting to find a tentacle monster staring back at him, only to find nothing. At least not yet. Shiro did say, after all, that it would take time for the seeds to fully awaken. So it was only a matter of time.

He thinks about telling someone; Shinsou, Korosensei, Nagisa. Anyone, really. They would help him, he knows that. They helped Itona even though the boy had done nothing but terrorize them. There’s no doubt the class would lay down everything to save him from the ticking time bomb Shiro planted inside him. Yet every time he goes to tell someone; every time he tries to explain the kidnapping to Shinsou or confide in Korosensei, the whispers just get louder and louder, telling him to lie, telling him to stop.

And he’s weak. Like Shiro said, he can’t fight against this virus. There’s no defense system for him.

So he listens to the whispers. He lies. He keeps it a secret.

The noise intensifies. 

-.-.-.-

The day Shinsou finally got his sling off and was cleared for assassination again, the class wanted to celebrate. So, instead of walking down the mountain like usual, they decided to mess around and practice their parkour all the way to the train station.

Izuku vaulted himself from building to building with absolute ease. It was funny; a year ago, we could barely make it up the mountain without passing out. Now he was moving with speed and agility most Pro-Heroes would be jealous of. He was honestly starting to feel… strong.

 _You could be stronger,_ the whispers said, and suddenly Izuku wasn’t having so much fun anymore. He tensed up at the sound, making him pause ever so slightly in his movements; unfortunately, his hesitation was just long enough for Shinsou to smack into his back. 

“Ah, shit!”

They went down hard, rolling on top of each other for cushion as they hit the alleyway floor. Izuku could only groan as they landed as a heap of entangled limbs. 

“Wow, that’s embarrassing. Out for a month and my reaction time is crap,” Shinsou muttered, pulling away into a seated position. He winced, and Izuku noted he was cradling his recently freed arm. “Ah, ouch. I don’t think the doctor listed falling off buildings as acceptable physical activity.”

“Shinsou!” Izuku stammered. “I-I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking, I—”

“It’s fine, Midoriya,” his friend reassured. “I should’ve been paying better attention and dodged. It’s not your fault.”

Izuku bit his lip. “But… I could’ve seriously hurt you.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t,” Shinsou snorted, standing up and holding out a hand for him. “Trust me, Midoriya. That incident on the island may have been a low blow, but it just means it’ll be a hell of a lot harder to knock me down next time.”

Izuku could only stare at his friend in shock and awe of his determination. He had literally been shot down; he faced death’s door. But in the end, it only made him so much stronger. It was so admirable.

_You could be like that._

Izuku tried to hide his wince as he took his friend’s hand and was hauled up. Nothing felt particularly damaged. Shinsou was right, after all; they had felt way worse blows. He almost wanted to laugh. Who thought he’d become so nonchalant about falling off a—

Izuku was barely on his feet before he was being bulled over again. Well, not really, considering whatever came at him was much smaller and barely felt like anything when it hit him, but it was enough to make him flail. Only months of precise training, however, kept him from kicking out long enough to see his attacker was—

A small child?

The child — a girl, probably not even elementary school-aged yet, with white hair, red eyes, and a singular horn on the side of her head — clung to his legs like she was holding on for dear life. Izuku blinked owlishly, not quite sure what he was seeing. He glanced at Shinsou for guidance, but the brainwasher looked just as lost as he did.

“Um, hey, are you okay?”

The girl didn’t respond, just held on tighter. Izuku gnawed on his lip and lightly touched her shoulder.

“Are you hurt? Lost? Do we need to call someone?”

Nothing. The girl just clung to him, almost helplessly, yet Izuku couldn’t but feel like he was the helpless one.

Sighing, he tried to pull away, but that only made the child scream and flail to attach onto his pant leg.

“Please don’t go,” she whimpered, so quiet Izuku almost couldn’t hear her (especially over the whispers that kept growing louder and louder by the second). Blinking, Izuku ever so gently crouched down so they were eye level, letting her cling to his arms in a desperate hug.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her. “I just need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can help you.”

Still no response. Izuku was running out of ideas here.

_We can give you more ideas._

Firmly blocking everything out of his head, Izuku took the girl’s hand in his and held it tightly.

“Hey. Can I let you in on a little secret?” She peered up at his words, looking curious. He took that as a cue to continue. “One day, I plan on becoming a great hero. The greatest, actually, just like All-Might. And I can start doing that by helping you first, but I’m going to need you to tell what’s wrong for that to happen. Okay?”

Her wide red eyes blinked up at him, and she finally opened her mouth.

“Eri. There you are.”

The voice that spoke instead was hauntingly chilling, even worse than Shiro, and it had both teen assassins turning defensively at the sound. A man approached them calmly. He probably would’ve appeared unalarming if it weren’t for the strange beak-like mask around his mouth and the clear bloodlust in his eyes.

“I apologize. I was not anticipating my daughter to run off like that,” the man said, stopping right in front of him. The child in Izuku’s arms trembled, which was more than enough to make him suspicious of the man. He calls this girl his daughter, yet she trembles at his presence. 

“Sir, your daughter seems very distraught. Is everything alright?” Shinsou said, angling his body so he stood between the girl and the newcomer.

“Ah, yes, well I’m afraid tragedy has just struck our lives today. Her grandfather, whom she was very close with, has just slipped into a coma. The sudden horror of it has been maddening and made my daughter unbelievably upset, as I’m sure you understand. She ran away crying before I could stop her.”

It sounded like a pretty reasonable explanation, and it didn’t sound like something someone could make up on the spot. But it still didn’t explain the trembling girl in his arms. Because she wasn’t trembling because she was sad or upset; she was trembling because she was scared. 

Shinsou seemed to sense it too, his expression reading increasingly unamused. He stared down the masked man in front of them. “Look, sir. I’ve been through more shit homes than years I’ve been alive. I know what it looks like when a child is scared of their caretaker,” Shinsou stated, his tone blunt but his words slicing. “So tell me, what have you been doing to this poor girl?”

The man tensed and stared back, his eyes gleaming dangerously. “You’re very perceptive for school children,” he said, motioning to their mismatched Kunugigaoka uniforms. “It’s quite burdensome, really.”

The man tried to do it subtly, but Izuku’s trained eyes locked on the moment the man began to take off his glove. Take into account the bloodlust that flowed off him in waves — there’s no question what this man’s intent was. It was the intent of a killer. 

Both he and Shinsou reached for their weapons, not even caring if they were about to expose themselves. Whatever they had to do to save this girl, they would do it—

But then the girl unlatched herself from Izuku and ran the man’s side like an obedient animal. The man had the audacity to laugh, though whether at the girl’s sudden compliance or the boys’ shocked faces was unclear.

“Done with your tantrum, are you? Let’s go, Eri,” he said, marching down the alleyway, the girl obediently sticking to his side with her head held low.

The noise in Izuku’s head burst and cried out, and he jumped to run after the pair, to forcibly remove Eri far, far away from this man when something lashed out and stopped him. A few seconds of frantic struggling helped him realize that it was Shinsou’s capture rings.

“Let them go. That’s a fight we can’t afford to get involved in,” the brainwasher ordered, and Midoriya could only gape.

“But — But that girl needs our help! We need to save her—”

“That girl left to save us. She clearly knew that whatever would’ve happened after that man removed his gloves would be worse than her complying. We’re over our heads here.”

“But we could’ve fought him! We fight Korosensei every day, and he’s the most dangerous man in the world!”

“Yeah, but we know him. We know his strengths and his weaknesses because he’s our target. And you don’t go after a target completely blind of their capabilities. It’s basic assassination 101.”

The world inside Izuku was rioting with screams, and he had never felt more furious in his life. How could Shinsou, someone who has openly said multiple times that he wishes to become a hero, let someone being hurt go back to their abuser? Not only that, but Shinsou said it himself that he knows the pain poor Eri is experiencing. 

“You can’t seriously be giving up so—”

“Izuku. Calm down.”

And suddenly the world went eerily silent. The whispers, the white noise completely disappeared as if they had never existed in the place. Everything was quiet and normal and _god_ how he missed it.

But then the brainwashing let up, and the noise came back. Izuku couldn’t help but sigh in defeat.

“Okay. Let’s leave.”

-.-.-.-

It turns out, Shinsou and him were far from the only ones who ran into trouble during their parkour excursion. Okajima and Kimura hadn’t been paying attention when they jumped down from a roof and accidentally landed on an old man riding his bicycle, breaking both his leg and the bike. 

Which led to where they were now, standing as a class in front of a furious Korosensei and a disappointed Karasuma. 

“I can’t believe how reckless you all were,” Karasuma growled. “Galivanting through the city where everyone can see you? Injuring that poor man? This class is a state-protected secret — not even the hero community knows of your existence. Do you know what we had to go through to keep the old man quiet about how the Earth’s Number One Villain is teaching middle schoolers?

“And you two—” he spun, pointing at Izuku and Shinsou. “Shinsou, you just got off medical leave, and what do you do? Fall off a building?!”

The brainwasher winced and hung his head. Izuku bit his lip anxiously. 

“It’s not his fault, sir,” he defended. “I—”

“Did nothing but encourage this situation?”

Izuku’s mouth snapped shut hearing the pure _spite_ in Korosensei’s voice. His heart stuttered and could barely bring himself to look at his teacher and see how dark his face looked. 

“You were careless. You took advantage of your abilities and you hurt not only yourselves but innocent people around you too,” hissed Korosensei. The class unanimously gulped.

“We’re sorry, sir,” Isogai spoke up. “We were just celebrating that Shinsou could join back in during P.E. We really didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.”

“No matter your intentions, you know your actions were foolish and dangerous. You know there are better ways to celebrate such a thing; you just went with the one that was the most fun.”

“But, sir…we’re under constant pressure,” Nakamura spoke up. “We thought this would be a good way to sharpen our skill set as well as welcome Shinsou back.”

“We didn’t mean for this to happen, honestly,” pleaded Okano.

Terasaka sneered. “And who cares if we chose the fun thing? We gotta unwind somehow, even if we’re never allowed to completely with training and all — uwah!”

Faster than they could process, Korosensei struck out, slapping each of them with his tentacles — not hard enough to knock them down, but more than hard enough to get their attention. The class could only gape in shock, and Izuku carefully brought a hand to his stinging cheek.

“Will you report that as me causing harm to the students?” Korosensei hissed at Karasuma but refused to take his eyes off the class. The government agent sighed and shook his head.

“I’ll overlook it this time,” the dark-haired man said. “I should’ve been aware of the risks when I introduced such high-level training. I forgot that despite their prowess, they are still children and will act recklessly at times; something that’s not a problem when they’re not specially trained assassins. This is my fault.”

Their P.E. teacher left, leaving them with the still fuming Korosensei. The room was unbelievably tense, and it felt so unnatural given that it was coming from Korosensei of all people. It was so deafeningly silent, not even the whispers spoke up.

“Korosensei...we’re sorry,” Kimura finally said, breaking the silence. The class immediately followed his example, bowing their heads and apologizing sincerely to their teacher. Izuku held his breath as they waited for a response.

“Perhaps I overestimated your humbleness as you kept growing stronger,” the octopus finally said, his voice calmer but still very dangerous. “You got cocky, used your skills for your own gain, and were completely oblivious to how they may affect those weaker than you. You were no better than your main campus counterparts.”

Izuku couldn’t help but wince at the jab, and he wasn’t alone. Getting called out sucked, but it was so much worse when it was by Korosensei; not only because they respected him, but because like always, he was right. They got reckless, and now someone else had to pay for it. Their behavior was far from a hero’s. Thank goodness Shinsou stopped him in that alley; who knows how many more problems he would have caused if he went after Eri.

 _We could have done something about it,_ the whispers tried.

Izuku hung his head and ignored them.

-.-.-.-

As punishment, Korosensei forbid them from studying for their upcoming midterms, and they had to spend the next two weeks helping out at the preschool the man they hurt — Mr. Matsukata, they learned — was the principal at. All things considered, it was a small price to pay for the old man’s silence. The fact that he agreed to keep quiet about the Tentacle being a teacher to middle school assassins was a miracle.

The preschool building was small and rundown, almost like their own building. According to the paid helper there, the school was a Quirk Preschool, meaning they took in children who developed quirks before they were old enough to go to primary school where they’d start Quirk Counselling. These institutions weren’t uncommon, but were typically very expensive due to how destructive some children can be when they first get their quirks. Mr. Matsukata disagreed with such ideals and kept his rates low so he could help children from lower-income families. Unfortunately, it meant the school building took on a lot of damage, and they didn’t always have the funds to repair it. 

“You know,” Maehara piped up. “With all 30 of us here for two weeks, I’m sure we could do a whole lot to help out. This place seems well overdue for remodeling.”

“Huh. That’s a good idea,” Isogai said. “I mean, with my Merging quirk, along with Yoshida’s expertise in mechanics and welding, Itona’s Technopathy, as well as all of our training, I bet the process will be sped up tenfold.”

The class cheered in agreement, and Izuku couldn’t help but smile. They may have gotten in their heads and messed up, but you could never say E-class wasn’t caring. Even Terasaka’s gang seemed fairly enthused by the idea of building this place up.

“Well, Shinsou, looks like we’ve got some work to do,” Izuku commented but froze when he realized his best friend was no longer in sight. “Huh? Shinsou?”

He eventually found his friend by the windows, buried under a pile of children who seemed quite taken with him and his capture rings, which he was using to grab random items around the classroom. Izuku couldn’t help but beam at the sight; Shinsou looked so peaceful around the kids, which was a nice change given how agitated he’s been since his injury. He almost looked soft; a sharp contrast from his indifferent persona.

“Never took you as someone who was so good with kids,” Izuku said, walking up to his best friend. Shinsou jolted and even blushed, and Izuku wanted so badly to take out his phone and get a picture. 

“Yeah, well, I guess I’m kinda used to dealing with big groups of children, being a foster kid and all,” the brainwasher shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. It only made Izuku smile wider. “Besides, I’m not good with all kids. That pink-haired girl tried to kill me, I swear. The only one who can seem to stop her is Nagisa.”

The pink-haired girl, Sakura, was an angry child that was probably three or four years older than everyone else here. He wasn’t sure why she was at a preschool, but when she threatened to weaponize the flower petals from the pots covering Mr. Matsukata’s desk, he didn’t dare ask why. It seemed Nagisa was the only one who could control her, though it was probably because he was using his quirk to keep her from getting so angry.

Izuku nodded and glanced around, wondering how everyone else in the class was doing with the children, only to stop short on the window. His eyes felt like they were bulging out of his head.

“Eh — Eri?”

He sprinted to the window to get a better look, and sure enough, there she was, cowering outside in the bushes. She stared up at the building, looking wistful. When her eyes landed on Izuku, however, fear covered her features and she ran away, disappearing in the green leaves.

“No, wait!” Izuku called out, slamming his fist on the window. 

“Oh dear. Did Eri stop by again?” the female worker asked, peering over Izuku’s shoulder. 

“Do — Do you know that girl?” the quirkless boy asked desperately. The worker shook her head.

“No, not very well I’m afraid. She came here one day a year ago or so with her grandfather — he said she just developed her quirk and none of the other preschools would take her because they were scared of it. Apparently, she made her father disappear or something. Mr. Matsukata was more than willing to take her in — our principal can cancel out the quirk of anyone he touches, so he is never fearful of the children — but the grandfather ultimately decided not to enroll her. Said he had someone else that could take care of her.”

The worker shrugged. “Ever since that day, she stops by every so often and just kind of watches. Mr. Matsukata has tried to invite her in before, but she’d always get scared and runs away. I’m surprised you even spotted her. She hasn’t been around in a long time. I assumed they moved.”

Izuku’s mind was going a million miles per hour. If she made her father disappear, who was that man referring to her as his daughter? Is he the man the grandfather chose to take care of Eri? What is her quirk anyway? How dangerous was it that it made so many schools turn her away? Was Eri in danger again? Is that why she keeps escaping? Is she trying to find someone to help her?

Whatever the answers to these questions may be, in that moment, Izuku made a promise to himself. He was going to whatever it takes to find out more about this girl and save her. 

Just like a hero would.

-.-.-.-

Two weeks passed and there still wasn’t so much of a trace of Eri. She never showed up again; not at the school, not in that alleyway. It was like she completely disappeared. 

They did, however, succeed in remodeling the preschool. They _may_ have gone a little overboard in process, but they couldn’t help themselves. Using wood from the mountain forest and tools from Yoshida’s family garage, they turned the rickety institution into a preschool palace. Mr. Matsukata looked like he was about to have a heart attack, but as they constantly reassured him, it was the least they could do.

“What you’re doing for these kids is inspiring,” Kataoka said as the class stood in front of the man before they said goodbye. “Children shouldn’t be turned away just because they don’t have money, especially during such a pivotal point in their lives. On top of everything else you’ve done for us, this is the least we could do to pay it forward.”

On the flipside, however, their results on the midterms were, well, as expected. That is to say, absolutely terrible. Long gone were their top spots and high rankings. Izuku looked down at his slip listing him as number 42. The lowest he’s ever been ranked in his life. It was embarrassing, really. (In all honesty, he’s just glad the school went back to only testing the five core subjects and not quirks during midterms. That’s another humiliation he could _not_ take again.)

To their shock, however, Karma happened to pull through and claim the second spot. Apparently, he had learned from last term that his quirk could only take him so far in academics unless he put in the work. The boy not only secretly self-studied over the past two weeks, but also the entirety of summer break to make sure he was prepared. 

“It was an embarrassment, really, to have a quirk like mine and perform so poorly last time. It’s not like I was about to let it happen again,” the red-haired boy commented, shrugging. Izuku bit his tongue to keep himself from commenting on Karma’s ‘quirk’ as his suspicion surrounding it grew larger. He resorted to scribbling in his notebook instead.

But by far the best thing that came out of this whole ordeal were the new uniforms they received from the government. Gone were the boring Kunugigaoka tracksuits; now they had fully equipped combat suits. Paired with navy skin-tight long-sleeved shirts (and leggings for the girls) was a blue-gray hooded combat-type uniform top and bottoms, made with impact-grade fabric and padding and designed to hold all sorts of weapons and equipment. And on their collar, in bold yellow coloring, was the letter E.

“Hey, Nagisa, Shinsou. You’re wearing the wrong pants, sillies!” Nakamura teased. “The girl uniforms have shorts!”

The two bristled at the jab and Izuku held his hands up placatingly. “Hey, guys, it’s just a joke…”

Of course, Karma did nothing but fuel the fire. He held up two pairs of shorts. “No, I think Nakamura is right. These will be much more fitting.”

Shinsou sliced his knife at Karma’s head, and though the boy easily dodged, it still made the class laugh, nonetheless. Izuku quickly approached his best friend before he could make any more murderous attempts.

“These are pretty sweet uniforms,” he said. “I feel so cool suiting up in them; it’s almost like I’m putting my hero costume on for the first time!”

Shinsou nodded. “I think I’m going to take inspiration from these when I design our hero costumes.”

“Hey!” It was Izuku’s turn to fruitlessly swipe his knife. “No way! I’m totally a better fighter! You don’t stand a chance at winning our bet!”

“Hmm, our duel this morning says otherwise.”

“Yeah, well, I beat you yesterday. Just you wait, I’m going to crush you at the end of the year!”

They were both laughing so loud, Izuku barely heard the whisper, _We could crush him now._ His smile was gone in seconds.

-.-.-.-

When Ms. Jelavić stormed off, Shinsou was the only one who went after her.

After the class realized they missed the English teacher’s birthday, they decided to make it up to her by getting her the gift she wanted all along: a present from Karasuma. So, with some background deals and distractions, they convinced Karasuma to give Ms. Jelavić a boutique of roses they bought. But just when they thought their plot was going perfect, their forever stoic P.E. teacher had to ruin it by keeping it professional and making a point about how this would be the only birthday they’d ever celebrate together. Because one way or another, either the mission was going to end or the world.

It was a depressing thought, and completely ruined the romantic mood they were going for. Ms. Jelavić stormed off, leaving the flowers and the class behind. Shinsou watched the scene with a bored expression and sighed. 

“She’s a cold-hearted bitch to everyone else, but can’t stand it when the favor is returned,” Shinsou muttered before jogging off after her. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Bitch-sensei!”

Izuku immediately moved to go after them but was stopped by Korosensei’s tentacles. “I think it’s best we leave this to them,” the octopus said. “With the way she left, I take it very few would be able to reach her right now. We should give them some privacy.”

Izuku listened to him, feeling increasingly more uneasy with each passing moment. The whispers hissed.

-.-.-.-

When Shinsou didn’t show up for their morning training session the next day, Izuku was justifiably concerned. He came up with reasonable explanations; Shinsou might’ve had to take the morning shift at work, or slept in, or was behind on homework and was taking the morning to catch up.

But when he didn’t show up for school at all, that concern turned to full-blown panic. 

“I’m sure he’s fine, Midoriya,” Nagisa assured him. “He’d notify us if he weren’t.”

Sugino nodded. “Yeah, he’s probably just at home sick or something.”

Izuku tried to let their words reassure him, but it only made him feel more frantic. If Shinsou was sick, that still didn’t explain why he hadn’t responded to any of Izuku’s texts. He knew his best friend. Shinsou was on his phone at any opportunity. It just didn’t make any sense.

He tried to push it to the back of his mind and focus on class that day, but to be honest, he didn’t have the slightest clue what they learned about. He left school in a blur, feeling extremely uncomfortable walking home alone. His worried thoughts and the tentacle whispers filled the silence where conversation and playful banter would normally take place. He contemplated going to Shinsou’s house to see if he really was there, but he ultimately decided against it. From what his friend has said about his foster family, even if Shinsou was home, they probably wouldn’t tell Izuku that, much less let him inside. The whispers taunted him all night, saying _we could find him, we could find him._ It was much harder to block them out that night.

Once again, neither Shinsou nor Ms. Jelavić were at school for a second day. People finally started to talk.

“Do you think they’re hurt?” Kurahashi asked, her concern palpable.

“Yeah, right,” Hazama retorted. “I bet the bitch was finally able to overpower Shinsou with her quirk and kidnapped him to be her minion. She’s always been a little obsessed with him since she learned about his brainwashing.”

“Bitch-sensei wouldn’t do that,” Kataoka snapped. “Midoriya. Still no words from him?”

Izuku shook his head. That was the most response from him they got all day.

After school, Izuku decided enough was enough, and he set out to find his best friend. He stopped by his work — no luck there. Apparently, he didn’t show up for his shift yesterday, which was very alarming. Shinsou never missed a shift. He went to Shinsou’s house, opting for sneaking around outside undetected. He looked through every window in the house, but not a single sighting of the purple-haired brainwasher. He opted for tracking Ms. Jelavić next, and he went to where faculty members park their cars. He almost screamed when he found her car was still there, her handbag abandoned on the floor, right next to Shinsou’s destroyed capture rings. 

In a panic, he dialed Lovro, but the call went straight to voicemail. Damn it. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t been able to get in touch with his mentor since before summer break. He chalked it up to a long-term mission, but now…

“My, my, my. Isn’t this a predicament?”

Izuku’s whole world went cold at the voice. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this much fear.

_“Shiro.”_

-.-.-.-

Izuku didn’t even hesitate to fire his weapon.

Unfortunately, the only gun he had was loaded with anti-sensei BBs and was hardly effective. Shiro looked more amused than anything. Well. As amused as a masked man could look.

“So testy. What, has something got you on edge?” Shiro mocked.

Izuku sneered and drew his knife. “Get out of here, Shiro. I don’t have time for you.”

“Oh, but I think I have something you’d find quite useful. You’re looking for your little purple friend, aren’t you?” Izuku froze, the whispers feeding off his bloodlust. “Oh, don’t give me that look. I didn’t do anything to the boy. Don’t get me wrong, he has great potential, and his quirk is _quite_ fascinating. But alas, it wasn’t me behind his disappearance. But I know who is.”

The green-haired boy was positively shaking at this point. Shiro scoffed.

“Of course, if you’re so dead set on making me leave, I can go. I’m sure you’ll figure out what happened to young Shinsou on your own.”

“Stop,” Izuku demanded before than man could even turn away. He tried to ignore how pleased Shiro appeared because of that. “What do you know?”

With a muted laugh, Shiro reached into his robes. Izuku tensed, remembering all the disastrous instances that followed such an action; however, instead of pulling out some pesky weapon, Shiro held what looked like a phone.

“It contains surveillance footage of what happened. I believe you’ll find it very useful,” Shiro said, tossing it at Izuku. Before he left, the man paused and looked back at the boy. “Oh, and Izuku? Don’t ignore the voices for too long. It’ll only make them stronger.”

-.-.-.-

Izuku called an emergency class meeting immediately.

“Midoriya? Why’d you call us here? Korosensei left this afternoon to terrorize the World Cup, so it’s not like you can plan to kill him,” Isogai said once everyone arrived in the classroom. Izuku stood in the front, his head hung low, bangs covering his eyes, and hands trembling.

“Midoriya…?” Nagisa asked, clearly concerned by his lack of response. They all were.

“I — I know what happened to Shinsou and Ms. Jelavić,” he finally brought himself to say. The response was instantaneous.

“You do? Oh my god, are they okay?” cried Yada.

“Did Shinsou finally text you back?” pestered Mimura.

Okajima got up in his face. “Did him and Bitch-sensei run away together?”

Their shouts combined with the pain from the whispers and his pre-distraught state was too much to handle. He gripped his head in pain before slamming his hands on the table.

“Stop!”

The class quieted instantly, clearly not used to someone usually as timid as him to snap. He shakily rubbed his face before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the device.

“He didn’t run away with Ms. Jelavić. They were kidnapped,” he said. The class gaped. “It’s all on here. Ritsu, can you pull it up?”

Ritsu complied, and her screen switch to the CCTV footage of the parking garage roof. From where it started, you could just see Ms. Jelavić come into the shot with Shinsou following her closely.

“ARGH!” Ms. Jelavić screamed, slamming her bag on her car roof. “I’m so pissed off! Karasuma is nothing but a piece of crap!”

Shinsou propped his elbow on the car from the opposite side. “Wow, you’re really fired up about this, aren’t you?”

Ms. Jelavić bristled. “Why are you still here, Shitsou?! I’ve been using my quirk all the way down the mountain! I bet every man is a five-kilometer radius has vacated the area at this point!”

“You forget. My brainwashing is stronger,” Shinsou shrugged, which only seemed to piss the woman off more.

“Oh, I outta run you over with my car, you disrespectful—”

It happened so fast. You couldn’t even see the assailant approaching. One second, the duo was there. The next, a smoke bomb was going off. Not even five seconds later, the smoke cleared, and Shinsou and Ms. Jelavić were nowhere to be seen.

“Wow. Whoever kidnapped them must be very good.”

Izuku nodded and was about to explain his plan to save them when he froze. It dawned on him that while he recognized that voice, that person…wasn’t a student.

Standing among the group as they crowded around Ritsu like he belonged there all along was the gray-haired florist they bought the roses from. He had managed to walk into a group of teen assassins without raising any alarms, as if he owned the place. The class jolted away as the man stepped back so he was standing in front of them, smiling widely. 

Not even Korosensei’s smile looked so sinister. 

“Nice to meet you all. I’m the assassin commonly known as the Reaper. And I’ll be teaching your class a fun little lesson today,” the man said smiling. “I know what you’re thinking — why disguise myself as a florist? Well, as you're about to learn, there’s a reason flowers have such a wide fragrant variety. Ritsu, do you mind pulling up the image I just sent?”

The artificial intelligence complied, and her screen was replaced by something even more horrifying than the surveillance footage: Shinsou and Ms. Jelavić, bound, gagged, and unconscious. Izuku felt like he was going to throw up, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“The purpose is to draw in insects,” the Reaper continued. “Now, here’s what’s going to go down. You can either play nicely, or —” the man began drawing on the board without even looking at it, sketching out pictures that vaguely reflected the captives. He then started drawing even lines through them. “— I can send them back to you in individually wrapped pieces. And trust me, I’m very good at taking the human body apart for parts. All you gotta do is show up when and where I tell you to without alerting your other teachers. Sounds simple enough, right?”

“Oh yeah? Who says we even wanna save the bitch or Turnip-Head in the first place? And what’s stopping us from taking you down right now?” Terasaka roared.

The Reaper just laughed. “Don’t kid yourself. It’s no secret how close this class is; losing Irina would be enough to make you distraught, but losing one of your own? It’d just downright break you.” The Reaper snapped his fingers, and slowly the man began to dissolve into flower petals. “And secondly, no man can take down the Reaper. The Reaper is the one who preys on man.”

And before they could do anything, the flower petals floated away, and the Reaper was gone.

-.-.-.-

They complied with the terms and showed up at the location — after all, what choice did they have? — but not without creating their own terms first. When the Reaper tried to capture them right off the bat, they made quick work of escaping; Okajima distracted their opponent while Mimura found a hollow part of the wall. They planted an explosive to it, and Okuda set off one of her special chemical smoke gases. Right before the bomb went off, Okajima activated his Snapshot, but instead of freezing everything around him, he directed it only toward the area around the Reaper — a new trick he’d been working on with Korosensei's help. It let him freeze time for two seconds longer, giving them that much more time to escape. 

They decided to break up; the main part of the class would stay behind in the sewer tunnels, while a small group of them would go off to find Ms. Jelavić and Shinsou. It was hard to locate them since Ritsu was hacked by the Reaper, but Kurahashi was able to speak with some cockroaches who agreed to lead the way. Unfortunately, it only got them so far. This was a game for the Reaper, after all, and he was more than happy to play. 

Izuku went with the rescue team. They located and broke into the room where the captives were thanks to the bugs. Once they were in, Izuku immediately ran for his best friend. He cut down the rope that was hanging his arms above his head, and Terasaka helped him support the weight as Shinsou collapsed while the girls went after Ms. Jelavić. 

“Mmm, wha?” Shinsou groaned as he slowly came too.

“Shinsou! It’s us, we’re here to save you,” Izuku reassured him, but from some reason that just made his friend start squirming.

“No, no you gotta go — you gotta get outta here!” Shinsou slurred, trying to push them away.

“What the hell, Turnip-Head, we’re trying to help you!” Terasaka growled. Shinsou shook his head.

“No, you don’t understand. It’s Bitch-sensei, the Reaper is—”

Suddenly the sound of a tranquilizer gun went off, and the girls all collapsed to the floor. They had just enough time to turn and find Ms. Jelavić pointing a gun at them before there was a sting in his arm, and the world became dark.

-.-.-.-

When he came to, he was back in a cell with his classmates, his hands bound behind his back and a strange collar around his neck. But at least this time Shinsou was with them.

“Ugh, what happened…” he muttered before it all came rushing back to him. “Ms. Jelavić! What — How could she?”

“It’s what I was trying to tell you,” Shinsou groaned from beside him. Just like everyone else, his hands were also tied behind his back and a collar donned his neck. “He’s brainwashing her.”

“Brainwashing?” Izuku echoed. “How is that possible? I thought his quirk had something to do with flowers.”

“Yeah, well it turns out it’s a lot more than that,” Karma said, him and Nagisa walking up to them. “When we encountered him in the sewers, not only did he transform his body into some smoke form, but he also had an emotional manipulation quirk that beat out Nagisa’s.”

The blue-haired boy nodded, looking embarrassed and frustrated. “It was insane. I didn’t stand a chance. I thought Korosensei was the only being alive with multiple quirks?”

“It’s because the Reaper’s quirk lets him take on other people’s quirks,” Shinsou spoke up, catching the entire classes’ attention. The brainwasher sighed and leaned his back against the wall as he sat. His eyes stared up at nothing. 

“He explained it to me during one of his little play sessions. His quirk, Frankenstein, allows him to easily and harmlessly remove parts of his own body and replace it with those of others. But if the body part he takes correlates with how the person’s quirk works — that is to say, the person’s quirk is activated by touching something with their hand, and he cuts off their hand and attaches it to his own body — then he gains their quirk.”

It was probably the most horrifying quirk Izuku had ever heard of. The ability to not only replace your body parts with other human limbs, but to also get an additional quirk if he chose the right limb…Izuku wanted to vomit at the thought.

Hayami’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. So, if you said that Bitch-sensei is being brainwashed, does that mean…?”

“Yeah,” Shinsou croaked, and he sounded so _broken_ yet so _angry_ , and something inside Izuku felt like it was snapping. “The sick bastard pinned me down and pulled out one of my teeth.” He paused to show them his mouth, pointing at where one of the back molars was missing. 

The class gaped. Izuku’s swallowed down bile. Kurahashi cried. Terasaka growled and kicked a wall. Nagisa sent a spark of pained emotion through everyone. Karma started to get that deranged look whenever he was planning his next torture victim. They were all thinking this same thing.

This monster hurt one of their own.

“Oh, c’mon Shinsou, don’t complain so much,” the annoyingly chipper voice of the Reaper called out. He stood outside their cell, Ms. Jelavić located obediently by his side. “You should be grateful for how lucky you are compared to my other victims. I was prepared to cut off your tongue or crack open your skull to get to your brain if the tooth didn’t work.”

Shinsou went concerningly tense, to the point where Izuku thought he might shatter like glass. He and many of his other classmates angled themselves between Shinsou and the Reaper, making the Pro-Assassin laugh.

“Oh, you’re all no fun. I personally quite enjoyed my time with little Shinsou. I was planning on just snatching your teacher and using much more, well, barbarically persuasive tactics to get her to help me. So you can imagine my delight when I go to take her and find her accompanied by the boy who can make people do whatever he wants.”

The Reaper downright giggled, and Izuku felt nothing but rage.

 _We can destroy him, we can make him pay. He deserves to suffer, he deserves to_ **_burn._ **

The voices roared in his head, but suddenly, what they had to say didn’t sound like such a bad idea anymore. Before he could let that train of thought go any further, however, a ping went off on the Reaper’s phone. He glanced at it, frowning.

“Oh, how bothersome. Looks like your watchdogs have found you,” he sighed, making everyone in the class perk up. Did that mean —

“Korosensei and Karasuma-sensei are here!” Hara cheered. From where she stood in the cell, she had a clear view of the Reaper’s device.

“Hmm. Yes, it’d seem so,” the Reaper hummed. “C’mon, Irina. We have some stray dogs that need to be put down.”

-.-.-.-

Izuku wasn’t sure what he expected of the Reaper’s confrontation with their male teachers, but Korosensei falling from an opening in the cell ceiling was not something remotely on his radar. 

“Korosensei!” they cried out as he landed. The opening closed as quickly as it opened, but it was just long enough for Izuku to catch a glimpse of the Reaper standing in his shadow form above them.

“How did he catch you so quick, sir?” Sugino asked as the octopus rose from the floor. Their teacher ignored the questions and quickly got to work, testing the tip of his tentacle against the cell bars. Unsurprisingly, it melted away, meaning it was laced with anti-sensei material.

Okano whimpered. “How are we gonna get out of here?” 

“It’ll be quite simple, really. We’ll work together to break out,” Korosensei said. “Hara, use your Goat Bite to chew a hole in the cell bars!”

“Yes sir!” The girl said, leaning down to and opening her mouth to do just that.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the Reaper drawled, making everyone jump. The man was sitting casually in front of them, Karasuma and Ms. Jelavić stationed behind him. “Any ‘Goat Biting’ and I’ll make those fancy collars on the students’ necks detonate.” 

That made everyone effectively freeze. Izuku heard Maehara lean over to Isogai and say, “Don’t tell me he brainwashed Karasuma-sensei too!” and couldn’t help but agree. 

Thankfully, their P.E. teacher proved his free will very quickly, moving so he stood in front of the Reaper. “Okay, what’s your play? You’ve captured him, now how are you going to kill him?”

The Reaper laughed. “So impatient,” he said, sidestepping so he could approach the children. “Alrighty, boys and girls. So here’s how this is going to work. When I send the signal to the control room, this drainage canal is going to flood with water, so fast that these bars will act like a giant noodle press. Isn’t that fun?”

Karasuma jolted in shock, grabbing the Reaper shoulder and opening his mouth to respond.

“Don’t answer him!” Shinsou shouted. “He’s got my quirk; it’s how he’s controlling Bitch-sensei.”

The Reaper tsked. “Always such a downer, Shinsou,” he said, to which the brainwasher sneered.

“Karasuma-sensei, he can’t do this, right? Surely the government set a policy to prevent us from being sandwiched in a psycho’s assassination attempt!” Muramatsu howled. The sheer amount of time Karasuma hesitated, however, gave them their answer.

Honestly, Izuku knew they shouldn’t be so shocked. This wasn’t the first time someone threatened their safety to get to Korosensei. But the realization that the government _really_ didn’t care if they became collateral was a punch to the gut.

“Oh no,” the Reaper teased. “Looks like the government cares more about saving the world than you little brats. What a pity.”

Just as the Reaper began to walk away, Karasuma finally spoke up.

“I’ll tell you the government's official stance,” he said and kicked the Reaper using his quirk, sending the man flying backward with a wave of red light. “They gave me the power to decide on a case by case basis. And I say saving the world isn’t worth the lives of 29 children. So if you wanna make these kids collateral damage, I’m going to put a stop to you.”

The Reaper, who barely seemed even phased by the blow, frowned. “How very selfish and unheroic of you. No wonder you went on to become a government agent instead of a Pro-Hero. But nonetheless, I’m afraid my plan doesn’t have time for nuisances like you.”

The Reaper took off, Karasuma hot on his tail. Ms. Jelavić stood in front of them, staring emotionlessly.

“Bitch-sensei, please, you have to break free. You have to help us!” cried Yada, her gleaming eyes signified she activated her Persuasion. But it was no use. The shear strength of Shinsou’s brainwashing was too much for any of them to break. Before anyone else could try their hand at freeing their English teacher, Ms. Jelavić raised her gun robotically and took off after Karasuma.

-.-.-.-

There was no way of knowing what had happened to their two teachers, but the explosion that shook the room did not forebode well for anyone. Korosensei whipped out a walkie-talkie from his robes and frantically asked Karasuma if he was okay. The whole class held their breath as they waited for a response.

After a few moments, much to their relief, the walkie-talkie crackled to life before Karasuma responded, “I’m alright. The bastard had Irina corner me and set off an explosion on both of us. With my quirk, it didn’t do much other than give me more strength, but I’m afraid Irina is trapped under the rubble. I don’t have time to save her.”

Shinsou jerked. “No, Karasuma-sensei, you have to!”

Even Izuku was confused. “I’m sorry Shinsou, but she’s too much of a liability right now,” Karasuma replied, but the brainwasher was adamant.

“A significant hit like that should be more than enough to free her from the effects of brainwashing. There’s no way the Reaper is controlling her anymore.”

Kurahashi whimpered. “Sir, if that’s true, you have to help her! Please! It wasn’t her choice, nothing in her life has been her choice! She was robbed of her childhood… We can’t rob her of a chance at the future too.”

There was silence for a long before Karasuma sighed. “Alright. But in the meantime, it’s up to you to figure out a way to stop the Reaper.”

-.-.-.-

They got to work fast. Terasaka and Muramastu used their sharp animal teeth to break the bonds on everyone’s hands. Itona ‘talked’ to the collars around their necks and discovered that they wouldn’t detonate if they took them off, while Mimura deduced where the blindspot in the cell’s cameras was based on the images he pulled up with his Record quirk when standing in the same places. From there, Sugaya pulled out a package of ink dye, and when touching it, he made the ink move onto their uniforms and perfectly match the coloring of their cell in seconds.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could do that, Sugaya!” Kimura gaped, admiring the flawless camouflage on his clothes. 

Sugaya laughed as he turned Takebayashi’s blue uniform brown. “Neither did I for a while. I always thought my quirk was just made printed pictures come to life, but then Korosensei recommended I look into my control over ink as a whole. We’re just lucky the fabric of these uniforms is perfect at absorbing ink coloring.”

Izuku was almost drooling and started to pull out a quirk journal before Shinsou slapped his hands away. _“Really_ not the time, Jolly Green.”

-.-.-.-

In order to fit into the blindspot, they had to sit on each other’s shoulders three people high. Shinsou, being one of the taller boys in the class, got stuck on the bottom, with Izuku on his shoulders, and Okuda on the top. Korosensei, on the other hand, had to strip down naked in order to fully utilize his camouflage quirk and was laying on the floor in shame.

“His blushing is gonna give us away,” Shinsou muttered, glaring at the octopus. 

A loud splash caught everyone’s attention, and the class did their best to angle themselves so they could get a better look. The darkness made it incredibly hard to see, but they could hear.

“Your skills and quirk are impressive. Too bad you don’t have an endgame strategy,” Karasuma said before suddenly gasping. The Reaper laughed.

“Well, would you look at that,” the assassin taunted. “I’m falling apart at the seams. Don’t worry though, faces are a hassle in this business. Not only does my quirk let me accumulate powers, but it also makes disguises extremely easy. And while it may not give me access to your amazing quirk, I can’t wait to add your face to my collection!”

Chiba, being the only student with good enough eyes to see, jumped back with a startled yelp, sending those on his shoulders toppling down. 

“His…His face,” the normally stoic boy said. “It’s gone!”

Izuku’s eyes widened, and suddenly he was very grateful he couldn’t see anything. With the combined superior eyesight of Chiba and Korosensei, they provided a very nonsensical play by play of the fight. Suddenly, Korosensei went stiff.

“Sugaya, give me all of your red dye now!” he demanded, and the gray-haired teen wordlessly complied.

_Ping!_

The sound was quiet, but it seemed to resonate. “It’s my secret weapon,” the Reaper taunted. “It’s how I learned my quirk let me take on other’s powers. Met this man whose quirk gave him a microgun in his finger. He lamented how the microbullets couldn’t do any real damage; his oversight disgusted me, so I chopped off his hand and gave it to myself. When I found I could use the finger gun, I discovered that while it was so small it would hardly cause any impact, a shot to the heart was more than enough to kill someone.”

Izuku would’ve been terrified for his teacher’s safety…if it weren't for the fact that Korosensei was chugging red ink and pumping through his extended tentacle. 

“Nothing like a little fake-out,” their teacher assured them. Izuku tried not to barf.

“Uh, Korosensei…how are you stomaching that much ink?” Nakamura asked. The octopus looked like he was about to cry.

“I don’t know, it’s so bitter!”

-.-.-.-

In the end, Karasuma took down the Reaper, they were freed from their cell, and Ms. Jelavić returned in control of herself again. Karasuma promised to guarantee that nothing like this will ever happen again and would set up a firm policy with the government protecting their safety. 

Slowly their class began to trickle off, a large group of them leaving with Ms. Jelavić to comfort her; the woman was extremely ashamed and embarrassed of her actions, even if she was brainwashed. Soon it was just him, Shinsou, Nagisa, Karma and their two male teachers left, staring at the monstrous, skinless face of the unconscious Reaper.

Before anyone could stop him, Shinsou suddenly surged forward so he was straddling the Pro-Assassin and prying open his mouth with his knife. The brainwasher looked deranged as he reached back in the Reaper’s mouth and yanked out a tooth.

“Sick bastard,” Shinsou hissed, pocketing the molar. “Like hell I’d let a sociopath like him keep my quirk.”

The brainwasher stomped away, shrugging off Korosensei’s attempt to comfort him. The whispers roared so loud that it made Izuku’s vision spotty as he ran after his friend.

-.-.-.-

Shinsou didn’t want to talk about what happened with the Reaper, so they didn’t. It’s not like Izuku could really push; he, too, was keeping his own interaction with a deadly man a secret. And soon, they had other things to talk about anyway. November came, which meant it was time for them to start deciding their future. Korosensei gave everyone a Future Planning Survey, having them list their desired school and top two career choices, and also scheduled a career planning session with each student. Luckily for him and Shinsou, it was extremely easy to fill out.

“Hmm? Your backup career is social work? I figured you’d wanna go into detective work, given your quirk and all,” Izuku commented when he saw Shinsou’s paper.

The brainwasher shrugged. “Growing up, I always wished my social worker would try to actually listen to me and not be afraid of me. I don’t want other kids to have to endure trash like her. What’s yours?”

“Oh, it’s hero support,” he said, laughing awkwardly and scratching the back of his head. “If I couldn’t become a hero, I figured the next best thing would be helping them.”

“Or you could go into vigilantism,” Karma commented, earning him a glare from everyone. “What? With your current skill, you’d probably be great at it.”

Nagisa sighed and rolled his eyes at his best friend. “I wish I had my life as figured out as you guys. Not only do I have no clue what I want to become, but my mom also keeps saying she already has it picked out for me.”

The group winced. It was no secret that Nagisa’s mom put the rant in tyrant. Shinsou made a comment once that while his experience with foster parents was awful, it was nothing to the suffering Nagisa endures with his mother. It just made Izuku all that more grateful about his own mother. But it also did nothing but cancel out the sick feeling in his stomach as the pictured how she might react when she found out his desired school.

-.-.-.-

Her reaction went as well as one might expect. She held the Future Planning Survey, tears bubbling in her eyes. 

“U.A. High School…” she whispered. “But… But I thought by going to Kunugigaoka, you’d find a different path…a safer one.”

“Mom, a hero is all I’ve ever wanted to be. You know this,” Izuku said, trying to calm her down. “Kunugigaoka has some of the highest U.A. acceptance rates in the country, and I’ve gotten so much stronger this past year. I feel…I feel like I can do it.”

The tears streamed down his mother’s face as she began to openly weep. Her knees gave out, and Izuku barely got there in time before she collapsed to the floor.

“I’m sorry, Izuku,” she wept, and Izuku froze. “I’m so sorry. I-I should’ve done more to help you in school, done more with everything. I’m sorry.”

Flashbacks to his childhood rolled through Izuku’s eyes. Why was she saying sorry? Why was she _always_ sorry? Was she sorry that she didn’t encourage him enough to find a different goal? Was she sorry that she never fully crushed his dreams? Was she sorry because she thought U.A. was going to do it for her by rejecting his application? Was she sorry because she really had so little faith in him?

_She thinks you’re weak. We can make you strong._

He found his body pulling away, and he couldn’t stop himself. Couldn’t hear her cries over the screaming of the voices. Without looking back, he yanked open the apartment door, jumped down from the balcony, and just started running. He let his feet decide where he should go.

Evidently, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. 

He first found himself outside Shinsou’s house. The brainwasher was outside, but he didn’t seem to notice Izuku. He didn’t seem to notice anything around him. Shinsou sat on the roof, cradling his mouth with one hand, and in the other was his capture rings — or what was left of them. His friend’s prized weapon was utterly destroyed; undoubtedly the work of the Reaper. Shinsou’s eyes were so haunted as he stared at nothing, Izuku had to run away.

He ran to the alleyway where he met Eri. As expected, there was no sign of her. There probably never would be again. He failed to save her when he had the chance, and now she was gone forever.

He ran all the way up the mountain, straight to the spot where Lovro used to train him. The man had apparently been taken out by the Reaper, and no one even knew. He was eventually found alive but barely. It took weeks before someone even saved him.

And then finally, Izuku stopped running, and he looked up at the moon. The permanent crescent shape burned into his mind. He thought of all the people who would die if no one stopped Korosensei.

 _We can stop him,_ the voices — no, they were much too loud, much too strong now. The  _tentacles_ said. _We can help you save the world._

Izuku listened.

-.-.-.-

As he walked into his scheduled career counseling with Korosensei, the octopus looked at him and grinned.

“Well, I know this is just a formality at this point for you, but tell me, Young Midoriya. What do you want to be in the future?”

 _Yes, tell us,_ the tentacles said. _What do you want to be?_

“We all know that answer,” Izuku said, smiling to hide his pain. “I want to be a hero.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form, energy beam, superior senses  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog: Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back  
> Grip: Grip  
> Gastro: Metallic Taste  
> Shiro: Potential  
> Itona: Technopathy  
> Mr. Matsukata: Cancellation  
> Sakura: Petal Blades  
> The Reaper: Frankenstein (AKA MY FAVORITE QUIRK OF ALL THE ONES I’VE COME UP WITH)
> 
> In a nutshell: Shiro reveals that he injected Izuku with tentacles, yet Izuku doesn’t tell anyone because of all the voices in his head, the class gets themselves into some hardcore parkour trouble when they welcomed Shinsou back to the world of physical activity, and the duo run into a young girl named Eri who needs serious help. A poor, broken legged principal and his preschool get help, while Shinsou and Bitch-sensei get kidnapped by the infamous Reaper. E-class launches a rescue mission that goes awry and end up captured themselves, Shinsou opens up about forced dental surgery, Karasuma and Korosensei come to the rescue, and when Izuku realizes how much he’s failed to protect, he decides to accept and use the tentacles to become a hero.


	10. To Evaluate Those Closest (Ep. 32-35)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the later update! I had a bit of a crappy week last week. I had to get a meningitis shot, and apparently, a possible side effect after getting it is passing out...which I learned after I passed out and faceplanted, splitting open my chin. I'm mostly all good now, but my jaw was pretty messed up, and I couldn't chew for a couple of days. Fun times.
> 
> Maybe it was karma for the angst I bring these boys. Oh well.

Hitoshi was no stranger to sleepless nights. He’s been a diagnosed insomniac as long as he’s known his quirk, so waking up at ungodly hours and not being able to fall asleep again was nothing new.

Waking in a cold sweat, phantom hands around his throat, on the other hand…

He couldn’t lie to himself like he lied to the others. He knew, deep down inside, that the Reaper messed him up, possibly more than anything else in his life: more than his parents’ accident, more than his foster home abuse, more than Takaoka, more than Principal Asano. Whenever he closed his eyes, the Reaper was there — mocking him, threatening him, grabbing him, choking him. It was like he never really got away.

He doesn’t remember getting taken by the Reaper. It happened so fast that there wasn’t really anything to remember. He recalls the feeling of his capture rings being snapped and crushed, and that was it.

He does remember waking up, bound and gagged up in a cold, dark room next to an unconscious Bitch-sensei. A charismatic looking young man sat in a chair in front of him, humming while he sharpened a knife.

“Oh, you’re awake!” the man said, and Hitoshi didn’t understand how he knew that. Hitoshi was completely silent upon waking up, and the stranger didn’t even look up once. “Thank goodness! I was getting kind of lonely.”

The man rose from his chair, and Hitoshi shamelessly scooted back. The man smiled wider. “I guess introductions are in order. Hello, I am the Pro-Assassin infamously known as the Reaper. Nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

Hitoshi glared, biting down on his gag. The Reaper laughed. “Sorry, had to take precautions. I guess you could say I already know who you are, but I didn’t want to seem impolite, Shinsou Hitoshi.”

The man seemed to take extreme pleasure at seeing Hitoshi wince at his name. The Reaper crouched down so the two were eye level. “Yeah, I did a little reading up on all of your classmates; nothing too thorough, just enough to know who I’m up against. Though I must say, out of everyone listed, you were the one who caught my eye. I’m just so happy we get to meet in person!” The Reaper chuckled. “Sorry about the circumstances, though. I was planning on just taking your teacher, but having you already there was an opportunity I simply couldn’t miss out on. You understand, I’m sure.”

No, Hitoshi most definitely did not understand, and he most definitely did not want to me here. He struggled helplessly in his bonds as the Reaper brandished his knife, looking all the more sinister in the dark lighting. Next to him, Bitch-sensei began to stir. She opened her eyes, blinking slowly before jolting to life. Her gaze darted frantically between her student and their attacker.

“Oh, goodie, you’re both awake,” the Reaper drawled. “So, here’s how this is going to work. In two days, the rest of your class will be joining us. You are the bait to lure them in, and they are the bait to lure in your Korosensei. From there, I will kill whoever I deem a necessary sacrifice in order to destroy the beast. Sound good?”

The man didn’t even bother looking at them for a reply. He merely gazed down at his blade, running thumb down the edge.

“And in the meantime.” Never had he seen eyes so deranged. “We’re going to have a lot of fun.”

-.-.-.-

Some nights he dreams the Reaper is above him, faceless, gruesomely skinning himself with his own knife. 

“For a protectant, the human skin is astonishingly easy to remove,” the Reaper explained. He liked to talk a lot for an assassin. “Too bad doing so causes the normal human being immense pain. Say, Shinsou, do you think you’d scream if I removed your skin?”

He didn’t scream as the Reaper cut off random coin-sized pieces on his torso, arms, and legs — refused to give him such satisfaction. He did cry, though. He’s not sure if that’s worse.

He wakes up from those nightmares crying too. They aren’t even the worst ones.

No, the worst ones are when he dreams of the Reaper pinning him down after the man explained his Frankenstein quirk, and Hitoshi began to realize what the assassin’s play was all along. He remembers trying to scream as the man reached into his mouth, but found he couldn’t when a foot stepped down on his throat and cut off his air. He remembers choking and crying and tasting blood as the Reaper pulled out a tooth with his bare hands. He remembers gasping and gagging and spitting up blood and bile as the Reaper stood, brandishing his prize before pulling out one of his own teeth and replacing it with Hitoshi’s.

The man’s wide smile that followed, flaunting the new addition, is what haunts him the most.

“Let’s test it out and see if it worked, huh?”

The Pro-Assassin gagged the brainwasher again before going into the other room and dragging in Bitch-sensei by her hair. He’s not sure what the Reaper has been doing with her the past two days; he seems to have spent all his time torturing Hitoshi. Slamming and locking the door, the Reaper pulled off the woman’s own gag. Bitch-sensei spat at his hand and looked at Hitoshi desperately.

“Shitsou!” she cried. If she managed to be that concerned, Hitoshi must look _really_ messed up. “What have you done to him?!”

“Oh, nothing too damaging,” the Reaper replied. “I’ve just been dying to get to know the students of the infamous Tentacle. I can see why he likes them so much.”

The man winked at Hitoshi, and the boy wanted to throw up. 

“I can’t wait to meet the rest of them; they should be arriving tonight, after all. Speaking of — Irina, I hope you’re ready for your big solo.”

“What the hell are you talking about you—”

Her face went blank. The Reaper smiled.

-.-.-.-

With the end of fall came the famous Kunugigaoka Fall Festival. While the U.A. Sports Festival was by far the most anticipated school event in Japan — and the world, for that matter — Kunugigaoka’s Fall Festival was a close second. People from all across Japan would come to experience the larger than life events put on by the middle and high school students. Rumors were already flying around about what Junior High 3-A was cooking up. Supposedly, they were able to get multiple brand sponsorships with some of the biggest restaurant corporations in Japan. 

E-class, on the other hand, didn’t have the slightest clue what they were even going to do.

“We could put on a haunted house!” Fuwa exclaimed. “Our assassination skills would make it easy for us to jump out and scare people. Not to mention how Okano’s quirk lets her go all exorcist on people.”

The class laughed at the idea while Okano demonstrated such horror, snapping her neck in a way that should kill her.

“Have a whole section dedicated to Karma and you’ll for sure scare them shitless,” Hitoshi commented. The devil-boy grinned.

“Oh really? I bet you could hang upside-down from the ceiling with your eyebags on full display and people will go home crying.”

Their bickering was cut off by Maehara. “I like it, but let’s be real. Who’s going to hike up a mountain for a haunted house?” 

“A haunted forest then?” recommended Hara. 

Takebayashi shook his head. “Way too much ground to cover.”

The class went silent for a second, trying to come up with another idea. 

“What about a concert?” Kanzaki suggested. “Those are always really popular.”

Sugino’s face twisted. He wasn’t alone in that. “Can anyone here even perform?”

The answer was a resounding no, nixing that idea entirely. Someone started elbowing him, making him jolt away from the sudden touch like it burned him, and Hitoshi turned to find a demon-faced Nakamura holding up a purple wig.

“We can always put on a drag show. We know we have talent in that genre.”

“Hell no!” the brainwasher shouted and made a failed grab for the wig. “Where did you even get that thing?”

“Aw, c’mon,” she said, pulling a skirt out of nowhere. “I’m sure Nagisa would be more than willing to help you.”

The blue-haired boy jolted. “Hey, leave me out of this!”

Hitoshi growled and turned to Midoriya for help but found the green-haired boy staring out the window, not paying attention in the slightest. He’s been doing that a lot lately, the brainwasher noted. Now that he thinks about it, they haven’t had a morning training session since the Reaper incident two weeks earlier. Without really talking about it, they both stopped showing up early — Hitoshi because of his nightmares, and Midoriya because of…who knows why. Hitoshi made a mental note to confront his friend about it later. 

Before their bickering could escalate any further, Korosensei interfered, using his tentacles to pull them apart. “Calm down, children,” he said, setting them back in their seats. “You see, class, I think you’re missing out on a golden opportunity here. The answer to your question is all around you — literally!” The octopus brandished an assortment of acorns, berries, fish, and roots commonly found on the mountain. “These are the ingredients to your success! An Assassination Restaurant!”

“I like your thinking,” Terasaka said, gripping his coyote-friend’s shoulder. “With Muramatsu’s cooking, it might just work.”

Korosensei grinned. “Well, everyone, get your chef hats on and turn your knives toward chopping vegetables. We’ve got a restaurant to run!”

-.-.-.-

The day of the festival arrived fast. He and Yada were put on marketing duty, meaning they had to stand at the bottom of the mountain and try to get people to attend their restaurant. Hitoshi is not exactly sure why he’s here. Yada was an obvious choice: she's friendly, pretty and has a subtle enough quirk that made her perfect for this job. Hitoshi, on the other hand, was none of the above. It’s not like he could brainwash people into coming up the mountain; it wasn’t exactly what one called good customer service. 

He stood off to the side, trying not to disturb Yada’s work when a familiar gruff voice caught his attention.

“What kind of noodle-shit are you selling?”

Standing there, red eyes blazing was Poofy, flanked by two delinquent-looking lackeys. He was staring at the flyer like it personally offended him.

Yada didn’t appear too off-put by the boy’s crudeness, eyes gleaming. “They’re authentic acorn noodles. I’d really recommend you check them out!”

Poofy sneered and tsked his teeth. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s just fucking go,” he said before marching toward the mountain path, his buddies laughing and taunting as they followed. The blond paused to glare back at Hitoshi. “What are you staring at, Eggplant?”

The nickname was familiar, yet there was no sign of recognition in Poofy’s eyes. It would seem him being here was really just an awful coincidence. 

The brainwasher held his hands up placidly and Poofy growled and walked away. Hitoshi watched them leave before turning to Yada.

“Do you think it’d be alright if I left you here to go follow them?” he asked. “I wanna…make sure they’re not going to cause trouble.”

Yada grinned and waved him off. “Go ahead. I can hold down the fort here!” She was much too nice to outright say she didn’t need him, but he figured that was the message. The brainwasher smirked and saluted dramatically before racing after the delinquent group.

-.-.-.-

He followed them in secret for a while, jumping through the treeline and hanging in the shadows before running ahead to give the others a heads up.

Midoriya was the first person who spotted him. “Shinsou? Is everything alright down the mountain? Is Yada okay?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s not what’s at the bottom of the mountain that’s concerning me,” Hitoshi sighed. “Your little friend, back with the sludge villain? He’s here at the festival, and Yada just sent him up to us.”

Midoriya’s eyes bulged while Nagisa turned his head. “You mean the explosion guy?” the blue-haired boy asked fearfully. 

“Oh, don’t sound so scared, Nagisa,” Karma said, cracking his knuckles. “I’ve been wanting to get my hands on that kid since he set off an explosion in my face.”

“You can’t though, remember? Maehara blocked his memory of that incident entirely,” Hitoshi pointed out, making the devil-boy frown.

Nagisa still looked concern. “But he’ll still remember Midoriya, right? Maehara said he can only erase immediate thoughts and memories.”

As if to prove the speculation right, a loud “Deku?!” interrupted their conversation. Just now reaching the top was Poofy and his clearly exhausted friends. The explosive boy scowled and pointed at Midoriya accusingly. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Feeling a major wave of deja vu, Hitoshi stepped in to tell Poofy off, but Midoriya beat him to the chase. “I go here, Kacchan,” he said, astoundingly less meek and fearful than the last incident. “Wanna try the acorn noodles? It’s our signature dish!”

He said it with a smile so sweet, his voice unwavering, and normally Hitoshi would’ve been proud of his friend. He was finally standing up for himself, not letting this bastard make him feel inferior or scared. But that smile… 

_“Let’s test it out and see if it worked, huh?”_

Hitoshi jolted. Only the Reaper had a smile sweet enough to mask his dark secrets. 

Trying to shake off the disturbing revelation (he must’ve seen it wrong. This was Jolly Green he was talking about; he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Right?). Poofy looked thrown off by the display too, crinkling his nose and muttering, “They better not make me barf.” 

The group of punks took a seat at a table while Okuda served them each. Hitoshi had never seen someone look so angry to be given food; Poofy ripped apart his chopsticks (almost snapping them in half in the process) and all but stabbed his plate, gathering up a huge portion and shoving it in his mouth. Hitoshi wrinkled his nose at the grotesque manners.

Then suddenly, Poofy looked like he was on the verge of explosion, but for once…not literally. He stared down at his plate in disbelief while his lackeys drooled and fawned over the dish. Poofy took another bite, and then another, and another, and within seconds his entire plate was empty, like he was trying to beat an eating record or something.

“Did he even taste it?” pondered Nagisa, to which Hitoshi could only shrug. Poofy, as if sensing the stares, turned toward them and glared. 

“What are you extras looking at?” the blond spat, before turning and muttering, “What, you waiting for me to throw up that slob or something?” Because, of course, he couldn’t give a compliment even when he liked something. 

Hitoshi was more than ready to snark back, but a hand grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. Without even thinking, he shoved it off (these days, every touch felt like a slap), but it didn’t even phase the woman. Bitch-sensei (who had made a habit of wearing turtle-neck sweaters since the Reaper incident; whether because of trauma or other reasons, Hitoshi didn’t know, nor did he ask) pushed passed the group, winking back at them playfully and signaling for the students to plug their noses. They obeyed and watched the blonde woman approach the punk group.

“Oh no! Don’t tell me you didn’t like the food. My students worked so hard on it!” she said. The effect was instantaneous. Poofy and his little gang went red-faced, staring at Bitch-sensei like she was a goddess. Poofy could only sputter and nod as their English teacher talked the punks into buying everything on the menu. 

“Wow, who knew Poofy could be reduced to a blubbering fool,” Hitoshi commented. “Where’s Mimura? I wanna make sure he Records this so it can live forever.”

-.-.-.-

The topping on the ‘Embarrassing Poofy’ cake, however, came when Maehara showed up to give them the check. Poofy, now breaking out of his Honeypot Trap induced trance, made his hands spark threateningly the moment he saw the large bill, but the boy paused when he looked at Maehara.

“Wait a minute. Don’t I know your shitty face from somewhere?” Poofy said. It then dawned on them that he actually would recognize Maehara, since he was the only face Poofy saw after he was Thought-Blocked.

Maehara barely even blinked. He took back the bill, stared Poofy in the eye, and handed it to him again with a wide smile and a “Here’s the bill, sir!” like he hadn’t said it five seconds earlier. The womanizer made quick work of escaping this time. Poofy ‘tch-ed’ and handed the bill to his sputtering lackeys, completely ignoring their claims of what just happened.

-.-.-.-

Business was unfortunately not as booming as they’d like, but such was to be expected when you had such an isolated location. Mr. Matsukata and the preschool bunch showed up at one point, which at least kept them busy even if they couldn’t afford a whole lot. Hitoshi made sure to stop by all the kids he connected with during their two weeks at the preschool. It felt nice, getting to see them. It took his mind away from everything else, at least for a little bit.

There was also a round-faced girl from 1-B who came and talked amicably with Midoriya for a little bit. The green-haired boy stumbled with his words and looked flustered as usual, and Hitoshi told himself that everything was normal. Everything was alright. 

He was standing with Nagisa wishing the preschool class farewell (Nagisa apparently still kept in touch with Sakura. Somehow he managed to really connect with the biting girl, and Hitoshi respected that) when _he_ showed up. 

Hitoshi says _‘he’_ because he doesn’t really know who the person is, but judging by everyone’s reactions, _he’s_ important.

After some hard-earned clarification and maybe some brainwashing (“Will someone just tell me who that is?”), he learned that the boy was Norita Yuuji, a rich kid Nagisa met back during their island vacation. Upon further interrogation, he learned that they met each other when Nagisa was sneaking through the club as a girl.

Nakamura didn’t even hesitate to steal Nagisa’s pants and trade it out with her skirt. Hitoshi was too shocked (and scared that he might soon get the same treatment) to even interfere.

“Man, that’s kinda brutal of Nakamura, given the incident with Nagisa’s mom and all,” Sugaya commented. 

Hitoshi arched an eyebrow. He hadn’t heard anything about Nagisa’s mom. “What do you mean?”

“Dude, you don’t know? Have you been living under a rock?” Yoshida exclaimed, and Hitoshi bit back saying something about how, no, he wasn’t, he just had a lot of other shit to worry about. He restrained himself and shook his head.

“The lady apparently has been trying to live vicariously through Nagisa all his life,” Sugaya explained. “It’s why his hair is long even though he always ties it up — his mom won’t let him cut it because she wants him to _be_ a girl and live the life she never did. She supposedly tried to get him out of E-class last week during career counseling, and when Nagisa objected, she threatened to burn down our entire building!”

“I heard it was absolute insanity!” added Okajima. “Her quirk is all based around anger. If she makes herself angry enough, she can start spitting lava! Thankfully Korosensei was able to stop her, but apparently the whole situation was really bad, and Karasuma-sensei and the government had to get involved. I feel so bad for Nagisa; to have a mother so hurtful and controlling…I hope he gets away.”

Hitoshi swallowed down the bile in his throat. He knew first-hand the horrors of an abusive parent, but to think one of his classmates and close friends was going through the same thing was heartbreaking. He just hoped that getting away for Nagisa wouldn’t include, oh, something like getting taken in by Principal Asano. The bastard.

While Nagisa was forced to go play hostess to this Yuuji guy, Hitoshi fearlessly approached the fuming Karma that was watching from afar. “What’s wrong, buddy? Thought you’d get more of a thrill seeing Nagisa dressed like that.”

The devil-boy didn’t even hesitate to swipe at his head, but Hitoshi easily dodged, laughing. “C’mon, don’t take it out on me. If it really bothers you so much, go interfere and control the situation. Isn’t that what people like you and me do best?”

Karma eyed him for a second before rubbing his face and sighing. “I should be burying you six-feet under. That’s what people like you and me do best.”

The red-haired boy continued scowling, and Hitoshi faltered. “Um. Are you alright?” He assumed Karma was mad about the whole Yuuji situation, but maybe he miscalculated? The normal playful bite Karma normally had was gone.

“Just peachy, my dear Shinsou. Why do you ask?”

The brainwasher snorted. “Because you look like you want to murder someone, and I don’t think it’s that Yuuji kid.” The silence he received told him he was right. “What’s wrong? Is...Is there something going on between you and Nagisa?”

“I don’t know,” the red-haired boy sneered. “Is there something going on between you and Midoriya?”

Hitoshi gritted his teeth, because of course out of everyone, Karma would be able to pick up if there was an issue between him and his best friend. He rolled his eyes. “Fine, well if you’re going to be an ass—”

“I’m not,” Karma cut him off, almost sounding apologetic. Hitoshi froze. “I’m not trying to be an ass. It’s just...do you ever wonder with Nagisa? About his quirk? About what he can do? What he can make you feel or think?”

The brainwasher paused, considering it. Frankly, he didn’t really know what Nagisa’s quirk was even after Midoriya revealed it was misdiagnosed. He knew it had to do with manipulating emotions, but that was it. 

“I can’t say I have. Why do you ask?”

Karma scowled crossly. “It’s- It’s nothing. Just forget I ever said anything.”

Without letting Hitoshi respond, Karma stomped over to Nakamura’s watching spot in the bushes, and Hitoshi wondered if he should do something to make sure someone’s body didn’t go missing. The brainwasher was distracted, however, by a tap on his shoulder. His whole body tensed, ready to fight. 

“So what do you recommend we eat, kitty girl?” 

Hitoshi has never spun around so fast. “B-B-Breezy?! What — Why are you — How did you?”

The queen, dressed in all drag glory, just laughed. “I was hired as an act for the 3-A portion of the festival — those kids really know how to throw a party by the way — and I figured the girls and I could stop by. You disappeared on us last time, didn’t even say goodbye.”

“Uh, sorry,” he apologized, though it was mostly habitual. He blinked at the tall drag queen and the two accompanying her. “Something, uh, came up. Can I seat you three?”

Madam Breezy grinned. “A gentleman _as well_ as a lady. Of course you can, babe!”

It took everything within Hitoshi not to grimace as he led the queens to a table. It was then that he realized who all of their customers were.

“I’ll, uh, be right back with menus,” he choked out before running toward the main building. He could hear the queens giggling and gossiping behind him, but he ignored it. He had much larger concerns now.

“Karasuma-sensei,” he said when he walked into the building. “Why are there dozens of _Pro-Assassins_ sitting outside?”

Their P.E. teacher at least looked equally annoyed. “The octopus took my phone and sent a mass text out to all of my contacts to boost business. Let’s just say I have some very _interesting_ contacts.”

Hitoshi didn’t even know how to reply to that, so he didn’t. He grabbed a handful of menus and sped outside, almost running right into someone. His refined reflexes let him dodge easily, but he still ended up stumbling when he realized who it was.

“It would seem Izuku is not the only one of you students who is often assaulted by air,” Lovro said, eyeing Hitoshi with what he thinks is amusement (it was literally impossible to tell with the man. Hitoshi’s fairly positive Lovro’s face muscles aren’t capable of smiling). “You are good friends with my student, yes? Tell Izuku I need to see him; I wish to discuss continuing his training.”

Hitoshi blinked and nodded slowly. Lovro smirked and walked up to Karasuma, leaving the brainwasher to awkwardly skimper away. He passed off the menus to Kanzaki and asked her to serve the drag queens while he went off to hunt for Midoriya.

He found the boy clearing off tables. As he approached, he wondered when he started feeling so anxious around his best friend. Before the Reaper incident, Hitoshi wouldn’t have hesitated to go up to Midoriya — hell, he wouldn’t even have to, because they’d always be together. But now…

Hitoshi knows he’s been more withdrawn since the incident. Physical contact was a lot harder to bare, he absolutely _would not_ talk about it with anyone for any reason, not even Bitch-sensei, and she’s probably the only one who could even grasp his headspace right now. It was only natural that he’d feel more distant with people, but with Midoriya...

It wasn’t a distance issue. He didn’t feel _distant_ when he looked at Midoriya. He felt like was looking at a completely different person. 

The boy had also been weird since his short kidnapping by Shiro, and Hitoshi now vividly understood why, but in the past week or so, something seemed _off_ about Midoriya. The only timeframe he had was that it happened sometime around their career counseling sessions. While Hitoshi may be at fault for the divide for the few weeks following the Reaper, the green-haired boy was definitely to blame for the cracks that have followed recently. 

Something was up with Midoriya, and worst of all, Hitoshi wasn’t sure if he was ever going to find out what.

“Hey, Jol-I mean, Midoriya, Lovro just showed up. He wants to see you; something about training or whatever,” Hitoshi finally worked up the courage to say. Midoriya paused in his cleaning but didn’t even look up.

“Oh. Okay,” he said and went back to cleaning.

 _What is wrong? Tell me!_ Hitoshi wanted to scream, but held it in. It would be embarrassingly hypocritical to make Midoriya confess his demons when Hitoshi won’t even look at his own.

“...are you going to go talk to him?” Hitoshi eventually asked after an uncomfortably long beat of silence. This time, Midoriya did pause and look at him.

“No. I’m really busy right now,” he said. His voice was normal, his face appeared neutral, but everything was so _unnatural_ Hitoshi wanted to scream.

He didn’t. He watched Midoriya walk away and didn’t say a word.

-.-.-.-

On the second and final day of the fall festival, Hitoshi chose to stick with his original marketing post at the bottom of the mountain with Yada. Because that was his assigned job. Definitely not because it was far from Midoriya.

It turned out, they didn’t even need to try to market themselves. A line for their restaurant was formed long before the festival even started, and business was booming all day long. Apparently, that Yuuji guy ran one of the most popular food blogs in Japan and gave them a huge shoutout, even after he learned Nagisa was actually a boy. It was pretty cool of him, actually.

And while the press was great for sales, Hitoshi didn’t quite grasp the impact of it until Pro-Hero Lunch Rush was standing in front of him. 

“Gah — M-Mr. Lunch Rush, sir, you, uh….” God, he felt like the old Midoriya, stumbling over words and fanboying pathetically. Yada giggled at his struggles.

“The restaurant is right up this mountain. Enjoy!” she cheered. The Pro-Hero gave them a thumbs up and left them, leaving Yada to pick Hitoshi’s jaw off the floor.

“I’m not surprised he showed up!” she commented. “Lunch Rush is a known food enthusiast. It’s so cool we got to meet him. Oh, Midoriya’s going to flip! I wish I could be there to see his reaction.”

That knocked some somberness back into Hitoshi, who began to wonder if this new, strangely quiet Midoriya would even react at all.

-.-.-.-

One day, Hitoshi finally worked up the courage to confront Midoriya…sort of.

“Hey, why don’t we train in the mornings anymore?”

They’d been walking home together in awkward silence for the past few days. Usually, Midoriya would be the one to keep conversation during their walks to the train station, but like many things with his best friend as of late, that has thoroughly changed.

“Hmm?” Midoriya hummed. “Oh, I guess we haven’t. I don’t know; at first, I wanted to give you some space, and then all the sudden I just found myself becoming super busy.”

“Busy? With what?”

“With, uh. Just some planning. Research stuff.”

Hitoshi bit his lip. “Planning what? An assassination attempt or something?”

Midoriya shrugged. “Yeah. Or something.”

-.-.-.-

It seemed Hitoshi wasn’t the only one who noticed something was up. He was sitting alone during lunch (Midoriya left him, saying he had something ‘important’ he needed to do) when Nagisa approached him.

“Shinsou,” the blue-haired boy greeted. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something. There’s...There's something up with Midoriya’s emotions. I was wondering if you knew anything about it? If there’s anything going on in his personal life right now maybe?”

Hitoshi clammed up. “What do you mean?”

Nagisa shrugged. “It’s just…when I look at him, his emotional state is all out of whack. For a while, it was just randomly spiking, but lately, it’s constant. Like he’s permanently distressed.”

Remembering his previous conversation with Karma, Hitoshi asked, “Nagisa. How does your quirk work, exactly?”

The blue-haired boy blinked. “Um. Well, I’m still learning, to be honest. Since Midoriya pointed out that it was really Empathetic Projection and not Misdirection, I’ve been trying to understand it better. Before, I would just Project uncontrollably, not even conscious I was doing it. Korosensei’s been helping me lately to expand upon it. While I still don’t know how to Project an emotion into a singular person instead of everyone within my range, Korosensei has helped me figure out that I can kind of…see a person’s emotional state, I guess?” Nagisa shrugged. “It’s like, when I focus really hard on someone, I can envision a wavelength that shows me their emotional state. If I’m doing that, I can Project extremely strong on that person. Korosensei says if I keep practicing, I should be able to only Project to that person.”

“So, when you look at Midoriya…?”

“His wavelength is crazy sporadic as of late. And it spikes usually when he’s around other people, especially you.”

“Me?” the brainwasher echoed, and Nagisa nodded.

“Yeah. It’s kind of like, when he’s around you at times, he gets scared.” Hitoshi jolted, and Nagisa quickly backtracked. “Not that he’s scared of you! It’s like…he’s scared of something else, and because of that, he’s scared _for_ you. I don’t know, it’s weird. That’s why I was wondering if you knew anything.”

Hitoshi sighed, propping his chin in his palm. “No, I don’t. I’ve been sensing something was off too, but he won’t tell me anything…”

Nagisa patted his shoulder, and he felt a sympathetic warmth envelope him. Despite the physical contact, he didn’t jerk away. It felt nice, safe. He knew it wasn’t real, and that it was just what Nagisa wanted him to feel, but he wasn’t shutting it away.

“Thanks,” Hitoshi sighed, relaxing. “Hey, by the way, I heard what happened with your mom. If you don’t mind me asking…what happened?”

The blue-haired boy quickly withdrew his hand, and the warm Projection went with it. “Oh. Yeah. I don’t know, really. She’s always hated her quirk; said it’s a manly quirk because of destructive how it is. That’s why she wanted my quirk to be something small, subtle like Misdirection. It’s not a hero’s quirk in any way. She always wanted my life, I guess, which is why she’s so controlling.”

“So what made her snap?”

“A lot of things, I guess. She wanted me to move out of E-class for one, so I’d have a better chance of making her dream school. When I refused, she got angry, which is dangerous, obviously. It doesn’t take much to get her quirk worked up. I panicked and used my quirk to make her calm down, not really thinking much about it. I didn’t realize until it was too late that I never told her about discovering my Empathetic Projection.

“She totally flipped. I was no longer her perfect ‘daughter’ with the invisibility-type quirk. I accidentally let it slip that I learned about my real quirk in E-class, and that was the final straw. She marched to the campus and was about to spew it down with her lava, but thankfully Korosensei stopped her. We had to get Maehara to block her memory of Korosensei, but the damage was done. Karasuma-sensei said the government was going to get me out of her house, even offered to let me stay with him if I had nowhere to go.”

Hitoshi blinked, intrigued. “Did you accept?”

Nagisa shook his head. “Nah, I’m staying with my dad now. I always wanted him to have custody, but he was too scared of my mother’s quirk to go against her. Since the government got involved, the legal stuff was taken care of.”

“That’s good,” Hitoshi mused, feeling genuinely happy for his friend. He knew better than anyone the suffering Nagisa must have gone through with his ordeal. "So now that she's not controlling your every move, do you know what your plans for the future are? What career and school you want to pursue?"

"No," Nagisa sighed, pursing his lips. "I already told Korosensei this, but sometimes...it just feels like the only this I'm good at is assassination, I guess? And while I'm not sure I want to spend my whole life doing this, what choice do I have when there are no other options for me?"

"I hardly say there are no other options, and I don't think the only thing you're good at is assassination. You know, in a way, assassins and underground heroes are pretty similar. You can hop on the U.A. hero train with Midoriya and I if you want. It's a wild ride, that's for sure."

Nagisa laughed. "I don't know about that. I've never really felt like the hero type. But...what did you mean when you said assassination isn't the only thing I'm good at?"

Hitoshi resisted rolling his eyes. Could this kid me anymore self-deprecating? He thought Midoriya was bad, but goodness, this kid had no faith in himself. _Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This was the guy who got misdiagnosed with an invisibility-type quirk because he subconsciously Projected that he wasn't worth seeing to everyone around him._

"Look, Nagisa, I saw you with that Sakura girl. She can freaking make flower petals act like flying knives, and she is happy to threaten anyone and everyone with her quirk, but you still somehow got through to her. While your quirk may be excellent for sneaking up on targets and keeping them subdued by manipulating their emotions, you can also do good for other people too. Like I said, you can be a hero, and you can do it without the license or the official title; kind of like how Korosensei saved us. I'm sure that's what Sakura sees you as anyway."

Nagisa paused, his blue eyes deep in thought as he considered what Hitoshi just proposed. Hitoshi met his eyes, trying to convey just how serious he was being, daring Nagisa to look at his emotional wavelength and see it for himself. Finally, the empath smiled. "I'll...I'll think about it."

"Good," Hitoshi sighed, sinking backward. “Also, are you going to cut your hair now that she’s not forcing you to wear it long?”

Nagisa gently touched his pigtails. “Not right now, I think. I started wearing pigtails when I joined E-class, and I think I want to finish the year out with them. It just feels right.”

Hitoshi grinned and threw a comforting arm around Nagisa’s shoulder. It was the first time he initiated physical contact with someone in weeks.

“I’m happy for you, Blue’s Clues.”

-.-.-.-

With the arrival of second term finals, Korosensei decided to bring back their bet to place the entire class in the Top 50 spots in their grade. It was an advantageous bid, but E-class was more motivated than ever to guarantee success; especially when they heard that Principal Asano was personally prepping 3-A for the exams.

“I also heard that the Quirk Final Exam was coming back too,” Sugino explained, making the entire class tense. “Apparently U.A. gave them special permission to replicate the hero course entrance exam, so while it won’t include quirk theory this time, it’ll just consist of an insanely difficult practical.”

Such news would typically be a damper on the mood, and had it been said even a semester ago, the entire class would’ve likely despaired. But they weren’t the same kids as they were during their last finals; they were stronger, faster, and more confident than ever before. A spark seemed to light up in everyone at the news.

“Tch,” Terasaka mocked, leaning back in his seat. “Bring it on. We’ve faced opponents ten times as strong.”

The class echoed their agreement with battle cheers. Korosensei stood at the front of the class, looking remarkably proud.

“How you’ve all grown,” he said softly. “I have the best intentions when I say I expect great things from you all. And with that in mind, let’s get ready to study!”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi was at the library hoping to get some last-minute self-studying in when he ran into the person he least expected.

“Asano?” Hitoshi questioned. “Why are you here?”

The principal’s son scowled. “My father has forbidden me from studying in class with my schoolmates, forcing me to prepare for the exams completely on my own,” Asano spat, though it was clear his anger wasn’t directed at Hitoshi. “It’ll be no setback for me, but his reasoning behind it infuriates me to no end.”

Hitoshi paused for a moment before thinking ‘ _Fuck it’_ and taking a seat at Asano’s table. He even kicked his feet on the table just for the hell of it.

“Let me guess,” the purple-boy drawled. “His brainwashing techniques won’t work on you, so he has to remove you from the fray to prevent any disruptions.”

Asano blinked, shocked, before chuckling cruelly. “Yes, I suppose you would be the only one who knows how he works at this point. What unfortunate circumstances we’ve found ourselves in.”

“Understatement,” Hitoshi snorted. “I say this nicely, but your dad is fucked up.”

Asano rolled his eyes. “You’re telling me. Since I can remember, our relationship has never been anything more than a teacher and a student. My house is just another classroom. I’m positive the few photos of him holding me as a child are 100% photoshopped.”

Hitoshi genuinely laughed. It was sad to think that _this_ is the most comfortable he’s been around someone in weeks. That the first person to make him laugh since the Reaper was someone he used to so deeply despise. Oh, how twisted his life has become.

“It angers me to think of what his philosophies have become — this idea of the weak only existing to boost the strong. Because of you and your classmates, it’s apparent how fundamentally wrong he is, but he won’t admit it. There’s always something else to blame when E-class rises to the occasion. But now, with him taking over and brainwashing A-class in hopes of crushing your class once and for all, I find an opportunity has presented itself that, even though it pains me, I cannot pass it up.”

Hitoshi waited patiently for Asano to continue. “Come the day of the exams, I am going to ask your classmates to kill my father.”

Hitoshi jolted hard and almost choked on his spit. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t mean literally. I don’t condone murder,” Asano said, giving him a weird look. Oh, right, of course. Hitoshi awkwardly settled back down and tried to keep his face passive. “I need your class to kill his philosophies once and for all. If his personal soldiers are beaten by your class, he’ll have no choice but to accept defeat.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a real deep grudge here,” Hitoshi commented, standing up from his seat. “You won’t need to worry too much though. Even without your surprising request, E-class is already gunning for the Top 50 spots, and we have no intention of failing. You just focus on trying to keep the top spot; I believe Karma is going specifically for that one.”

Asano blinked, gave Hitoshi a one-over, before standing as well. “It seems we’ve reached an understanding,” he said, holding out his hand. Hitoshi glanced down at the bare palm, and Asano scowled deeper. “Oh, please. You do know my quirk is active, right? I won’t invade your brain every time you—”

Asano went hysterically silent as Hitoshi shook his hand, his own palm equally bare. The principal’s son looked at a complete loss for words as Hitoshi smirked, releasing the hold and scratching the back of his head. It was a risky move; he had _a lot_ of secrets, from the Reaper to very Korosensei’s existence. But despite that, the move felt necessary.

“I suppose I’ve been awfully hypocritical then,” Hitoshi explained. “You speak to me with no fear even though I could have brainwashed you at any time. I know all too well what it’s like to be avoided for your quirk. Granted, you haven’t proven yourself exactly trustworthy in the past, and your evil father doesn’t help, but I guess that’s no excuse. I’m sorry for being an ass, thanks for not invading all my secrets.”

Asano looked at him like he was an alien. “...right.”

Hitoshi laughed and saluted farewell.

-.-.-.-

If they thought first semester finals were hard, second semester’s were a whole other monster. Half of the questions were practically urban legend in the world of academia, and the other half were likely taken straight from top-tier university senior courses. But despite the rigorous curriculum, E-class fought back. Korosensei’s tactic this time around of having students tutor each other was proving to be shockingly helpful, Hitoshi noted as he answered a math question he distinctly remembered Karma teaching him. 

The true beast, however, wasn’t even the final question on the math portion — it was the Quirk Exam’s actual monsters.

For the Quirk Exam, all of the students were put into a massive arena, where inside they had to face off against giant robot monsters. How they were being scored was kept a secret, but the general objective — destroy as many robots as you can — was clear. 

“Man, it sucks they won’t let us take weapons with us,” bemoaned Kimura as they approached the E-class entrance to the arena. Outside help was strictly forbidden on the exam; you had completely rely on your wits and skills once you were inside. Much of the class nodded solemnly as they readied themselves for the countdown. _Three... Two... One…_

_Showtime._

The class launched into action immediately. Being who they were, they devised a strategy from the beginning. Now it was time to put their brains and training to the test.

Kimura went first to scope out the terrain and competition, and then swiftly returned to inform Isogai. The class president nodded and turned to address the class.

“It appears to be a standard dirt arena, with little obstacles other than the giant robots. Remember the objective: work together and take them down. There’s no way we’ll fail.”

The class roared in agreement before taking off at their first beast. The giant metal robot was armed with an array of weapons and was firing at will. Fortunately for E-class, dodging attacks was just another day on the job.

Terasaka and Muramatsu were the first to attack, just as planned. The two animal-quirk boys used their above-average strength to rip pieces of the robot right off and throw them at Isogai, Itona, and Yoshida, who were working at top speeds to develop weapons for the class. They weren’t foolish — they knew they didn’t have the most offensive quirks on their own. But that was in no way going to stop them. 

While they did that, Sugino began throwing rocks at lightning speeds at the robot to keep him subdued long enough for other classmates to get armed. Kimura, now armed with what looked like a sword, ran up the monster using Sticky Feet and sliced two gun-type weapons off the beast. 

“Chiba, Hayami, catch!” he shouted, tossing it down to them. The two sharpshooters snatched up the weapons and made quick work of firing them. A couple well-placed blows from the powerful guns, and the robot was down.

“Alright!” Mimura cheered, but the celebration was short-lived as another beast took the fallen’s place. 

As more weapons were given out, the class began attacking in full, even taking on multiple robots at a time. Nagisa wielded a mace-like a natural and smacked down anything that came near him. Yada, Kurahashi, and Kataoka worked together to trip a robot with a wire and behead it once it was down. Nakamura jumped from robot to robot as if she was freerunning on roofs, smashing the head of any beast she touched. Hitoshi moved to pick up a massive hammer weapon Isogai just finished that looked wicked cool, but was stopped by a sharp tug on his sleeve by Itona.

“I thought you might like these,” the white-haired boy said, holding up two small items that easily fit in his palm and looked a lot like…

“Capture rings?” Hitoshi said, suddenly feeling way too emotional for someone in a war zone. He hesitantly picked up the metal weapons and just stared at them.

“I’ve been drawing up an improved prototype ever since I saw you use them against Shiro,” Itona explained. “When I heard the Reaper destroyed your old rings, I was going to make them, but I never had the parts. Who would’ve thought I’d find everything I needed from robots in an exam?”

With shaky hands, Shinsou slipped the rings on. They were smaller and much more comfortable than his last pair, and the design was surprisingly slick-looking all things considered. Itona really made these in the short amount of time they’ve been in the arena? Out of robot scraps? What kind of prodigy was he?

“I’ll definitely want to tweak them once we’re out of the exam, but they should work fine for now,” Itona continued. Hitoshi nodded and made quick work of testing the boy’s theory. 

He flung his hands out in a fluid motion, and the rings sprung to life. He almost cried real tears when he saw it wasn’t string-rope inside, but strong wire metal. They sliced through the air like it was butter and latched onto a nearby robot, feeling more secure than his old ones ever did. With very little effort on his part, he yanked back and pulled the robot to the ground with a loud _crash!_

“Nice one, Shinsou!” Okano called out while she bent her spine in half to dodge a blow. Hitoshi grinned and turned back to Itona.

“Thanks, dude. I don’t even…”

Itona gave what appeared to be a smile (emotion was an impossible thing to decipher with that boy) and picked up the hammer. “Don’t mention it. We’re a team after all, aren’t we?”

Hitoshi smirked and raised his hands again. “Yeah, we are.” And then together, they charged.

-.-.-.-

Just when they thought it was over, the big boy monster came out.

The robot was so tall it barely fit in the arena. It didn’t have as many weapons as the smaller robots, but its sheer size was enough to make it seem ten times more threatening. 

“What the hell?!” Sugaya cried. “A beast like that at the end? No one has the energy to stop that thing!”

The gray-haired boy was right. At this point, even E-class was too exhausted to fight another beast, despite having by far the best endurance thanks to their training. Their main campus counterparts ran out of energy to fight long before this.

“Well someone has to stop it. The exam probably won’t be over until we do,” Kataoka argued. “If we all attack at once, we should—”

Then, out of nowhere, Midoriya darted out of the fray and charged at the beast with alarming speed. He stabbed the robot through both of its feet with his spear, and then just as quickly scaled the robot until he was at its neck. The green-haired boy unstrapped a gun from his back and wasted no time in firing right through the beast’s head

It’s like it wasn’t even a challenge. The robot began to self-implode and crashed to the ground, Midoriya standing triumphantly on top of it with only a few scratches. The whole arena was silent for a second, no one quite sure what just happened, before E-class erupted.

“Holy _shit,_ Midoriya! Where did that come from?!”

“Midoriya, the Robot Slaying Hero. Who’da thought?”

“I take it back. That was _way_ more badass than your first-semester exam!”

“You’re our hero, Midoriya!”

“Wow,” Karma said, breaking his way through the crowd. “Seems Lovro’s training really does work, huh?”

“I was just using the skills we were all taught. We were all pretty amazing today,” Midoriya answered. He smiled, and for once, it almost seemed normal. Except —

 _Except,_ Hitoshi thought, watching from afar. _There was absolutely nothing normal about what he just did._

-.-.-.-

The following week, the entire class waited with bated breath for Korosensei to reveal the results. 

“Here we go,” the octopus said, holding up their test papers. “Did you wield your second blades to victory? Let’s find out.”

In a blink of the eye, every test was passed out and Korosensei was back at the front of the class. “Of course, the individual scores tell very little sometimes of how you stacked up against your opponents. Let’s take a look at the Top 50, shall we? I believe the main campus will be hanging this very same banner right now too.”

Hitoshi didn’t even bother looking down at his tests, too nervous to even stomach it. He kept his eyes peeled as the octopus hung up the score results _painfully_ slow. His eyes bulged when he saw the 46th spot.

“You’re kidding me,” Terasaka gasped. “I’m…I’m 46?”

That spoke words. It was no secret Terasaka consistently scored the lowest of all the class. If he was 46, then…

It took Hitoshi a painfully long time to find his name, and for a second, he panicked, thinking he messed it up for everyone. That he was the one person who failed to make the Top 50. He was jolted out of his thoughts when Mimura slapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Ninth place, good job Shinsou! We almost swept the top ten!”

Sure enough, there was his name in the first row, right above Sakakibara Ren and the other three Virtuosos. The only Virtuoso to rank above E-classers in the top ten was (unsurprisingly) Asano, but not even he was the highest. Stealing the number one spot was Karma with a perfect 600. 

“You sure showed them,” Hitoshi commented with a smile, and the rest of the class echoed their compliments. Karma for once looked oddly serene and — was he blushing?

“Hey, Shinsou,” Midoriya said, popping up in front of him. “Good, um. Good job. I’m really happy for you.”

Hitoshi swallowed down his emotions as he smiled back, thinking maybe, _just_ maybe, all of his speculation was in his head. Because for once, this actually felt like the Midoriya he knew.

“Right back at you, Jolly Green,” he complimented. “Third place is insane, even more so considering your competition was Asano and Karma.”

The green-haired boy broke into a natural-looking grin. “Thanks, Shinsou!”

“Man, I’ve never felt more ready for entrance exams,” Okajima cheered. “I might actually get into my dream school at this rate!”

“You two must be feeling pretty confident too,” Hayami noted, looking at Hitoshi and Midoriya. “Compared to this, I bet the U.A. entrance exam will be a walk in the park.”

Hitoshi shrugged and scratched the back of his head. “I certainly hope so.”

“Oh man, what I’d pay to see the look on A-classes’ faces,” Maehara said. Isogai nodded and leaned on his best friend, saying, “We certainly showed them.”

“To be fair, your A-class counterparts fought hard on the first part of the exams. However, when it came down to it, they ran out of bloodlust towards the end and simply didn’t have the strength, stamina, or strategy that you all did to continue on,” Korosensei explained. “And, not to take away from your other successes, but you Quirk Exam scores certainly gave you the extra nudge to blow them all away. Take a look at them.”

Hitoshi glanced down at his scoring sheet and arched an eyebrow. He glanced over at Midoriya’s and Nagisa’s to double-check.

“We all got hundreds?!” Kurahashi exclaimed as the entire class started passing around the score sheets to witness it for themselves.

“Indeed,” Korosensei said, dripping with pride. “Your teamwork and skills were unparalleled in every front. The judges would be out of their minds to score you any lower. It goes without being said, but I am so very proud of you.”

The class grinned, glancing at each other. Isogai led them in a class bow. 

“We couldn’t have done it without you, sir.”

-.-.-.-

Their celebrations were short-lived. Principal Asano, unable to accept that he’d been bested, showed up at their building with a bulldozer and declared that the old building was going to be removed and E-class move to a new prison-like facility. Then, on top of all that, he declared he was going to kill Korosensei, claiming the octopus doesn’t fit in his ‘vision’.

And given this was Principal Asano, the man planned to kill the octopus the best way he knows how: through bets and blackmail.

Korosensei had to open and solve a problem out of four workbooks. The trick was that an anti-sensei grenade was set in each book, ready to detonate whenever it is opened. There was a fifth grenade and workbook, but that one was set with an explosion to target and kill humans. Korosensei would go through the first four books, and if he survived, the principal would do the last. The only way to win was to either let Principal Asano get blown up or force him to back out.

There was an 80% chance of it succeeding — greater than anything done before.

Those odds seemed to be guaranteed with the first workbook; Korosensei panicked and even with his super-speed processing, the grenade still went off, very effectively injuring the octopus.

“It’s all a part of the balance,” Principal Asano explained. “While the weak rely on elaborate assassination, the strong can kill with leisure. There’s a reason heroes are greater respected in terms of strength. I know your weaknesses, Korosensei. You get flustered with puzzles; this will be a breeze on my end. Once I collect the bounty, I’ll be sure to build schools all across the world that preach my philosophies. Maybe I’ll even buy out U.A., hmm? I’ve worked so closely with them over the years, it shouldn’t be hard.”

Hitoshi gritted his teeth; of course this was all about ideologies. Wasn’t it always with this man?

Korosensei, still partially melted, reached for the next workbook. The whole class winced in anticipation, waiting for the next explosion. Would it be the killing blow, or would the next one? Were they really about to watch their sensei get taken out right under their noses?

But then Korosensei closed the workbook just as fast as he opened it, preventing the grenade from going off.

“I’m afraid that first textbook was one I wasn’t so familiar with,” Korosensei explained, speedily finishing the other workbook problems without any issue. “It’s been on loan to a student for so long, I simply forgot about it. These next three, I know like the back of my tentacle. I know practically every question on every page at this point. I’ve memorized every Japanese school material out of duty as an educator, so I’m afraid your one-dimensional plot isn’t as effective as you hoped.

“Well, sir,” Korosensei continued, motioning to the remaining workbook. “I believe it’s your turn, is it not?”

-.-.-.-

Korosensei, unsurprisingly, didn’t let Principal Asano blow up, though it wasn’t without try on the principal’s part. The man refused to concede and opened the explosive-rigged workbook, only to be protected by Korosensei’s molted skin. In the end, Principal Asano actually admitted defeat and allowed E-class to remain as they were, and it finally seemed like things could go back to the way they were. 

But then he went down the mountain to go home and spotted Asano off to the side with a large bandage on his cheek. Hitoshi slipped away from his friends unnoticed and made his way over to the principal’s son. 

“That’s a pretty nice bruise you’ve got going on there,” he commented. 

Asano eyed him before sighing. “It would seem the old man took losing even harder than expected,” he said, and Hitoshi wanted to laugh. No shit, the man just tried to take out their building, their teacher, and himself. “How’d you know?”

The brainwasher shrugged. “It’ll come as no shock to you that I know very well what a beating from an old man looks like.”

“Such knowledge is at full fault of mine, I’m afraid. I apologize.” The two teens jolted and spun around to find Principal Asano approaching. For once, the man didn’t look like he was plotting anything, but maybe that’s what was so terrifying.

“It’s come to my attention that I’ve kept much of my life and my intentions under wraps, which isn’t fair to anyone,” the principal continued. “I believe a owe both of you an explanation. Might I offer you both a ride? I don’t think words will be enough for you two understand.”

The man motioned to his car where a chauffeur was waiting. Wait…what?

Hitoshi felt like a fish out of water. Evil brainwashing Machevalian principal was apologizing to them and offering them a ride? Hell no. The only reason Hitoshi wasn’t 100% convinced the man was plotting murder was because he invited his son along, but even that was thin logic. Asano looked just as shocked as Hitoshi, and the brainwasher wondered if he’d ever ridden in his father’s work car before. He couldn’t exactly picture them riding to school every morning.

Whatever be the case, Hitoshi must’ve blacked out at some point, because the next thing he knew, he was in the backseat of a car, sitting next to an uncomfortably stiff Asano. The principal sat up front. The car ride was eerily silent, and Hitoshi spent the whole time wondering if he could brainwash the principal and get away with it. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even realize they’d arrived at a house and gotten out of the car until he was standing in what he assumed was Principal Asano’s personal office.

“Allow me to start from the beginning,” the principal began. “Twelve years ago, I ran a humble cram school, located in what is currently the 3-E building. It was a small business, with only three students. I was the main teacher, but a dear friend of mine would come help out in his free time.”

The principal reached into his desk and pulled out an old wooden box. From the box, he grabbed a photo and held it out to them. “I believe you know this man every well, Hitoshi.”

The picture was of three junior high aged children standing in the front with two adults in the background. One was Principal Asano, and the other was...

“...Dad?” Hitoshi croaked, and his senses went dark for a moment. “H-How…?”

“We were childhood friends,” the principal explained. “Toshio, your father, often worried about me, working such a small business on my own, even though my stock market funds were more than successful. But whenever he had the time, your father would come help teach the children so I could get a chance to rest — something he never needed, as you know.”

Hitoshi’s lip quivered in what would’ve been a smile, except his emotions ran too high to properly react. There was a roaring in his ears and a frog in his throat, and he couldn’t speak. Thankfully, Asano could.

“What’s the point of this?” the boy challenged, voicing Hitoshi’s own thoughts. “You knew his dad. So what? And if you really were so close, why is Shinsou just learning of this now? You’d think good friends would keep in touch more.”

“Don’t jump ahead so quickly, Gakushuu. I promise to answer all of your questions when the time comes,” the principal continued. “You’re correct in your observations though. I’m afraid the only explanation for it was a falling out we had three years after the cram school opened. You see, one of my first students, Ikeda, committed suicide.” The two teens tensed as the man continued on. “He was being bullied and couldn’t take it. I spent my time teaching Ikeda to be a good student, but it was then that I saw the weakness in my ideals. It’s not the good who thrive, it’s the strong. Toshio…he didn’t agree with me.

“He tried to say it wasn’t my fault, that the bullies were to blame — that, which I agreed with him on. It’s why I drove those bullies to gambling to ruin their lives, and it was the first time I learned the brainwashing capabilities of my quirk. When Toshio learned what I had done, he was furious. Screamed at me about how his dear son, who just developed a brainwashing quirk, was and forever would be facing discrimination because of stereotypes set by people like me who used their quirks to manipulate. He cut off all connection, told me he never wanted to see me again. This is the last photo I have of us together.”

He held out another picture. This one showed both of Hitoshi’s parents as well as himself. He looked about five-years-old. It also showed the Asano family, with the principal proudly holding his son and standing next to a beautiful blond woman. It looked to be taken around Christmas time. He heard Asano’s voice hitch, and in his panic, Hitoshi vaguely recalled their earlier conversation when he said he didn’t think his father ever actually held him. Well, it seemed the night was going to be full of surprises.

As for Hitoshi’s reaction, well...it threw him for a loop, to say the least. He felt like his world was crumbling at the seams. His father’s best friend had been Principal Asano? They partially worked together? Their families spent holidays together? He knew Asano Gakushuu when they were babies? Had they been friends? Raised together? How much did he never know about himself? Why —

“You...You weren’t at the funeral,” Hitoshi ultimately said despite all of his questions. The principal actually looked saddened at the thought.

“No, I wasn’t,” he confirmed. “Their accident took a great toll on my life. It’s partially why my wife left me; the grief and guilt I felt drove me mad.”

“Guilt?” Asano and Hitoshi echoed at the same time. The principal nodded.

“The night they died, I was at the same charity ball,” Principal Asano said, looking at them both in the eye. For once, the principal’s eyes weren’t invading or malicious, they just looked…sorrowful. “It was actually being thrown in my honor, to celebrate my opening of Kunugigaoka Junior High. I didn’t expect them to go, and when I saw them there, well. I didn’t even have the confidence to approach them. But it made me so hopeful, seeing my dear friend. It made me wonder, did he come to support me? Was he here for me, or just because he was once a founding educator at the cram school?”

The principal laughed sadly. “I guess I’ll never really know. I couldn’t approach them, had to go outside even. That’s when _it_ happened.” Principal Asano’s face turned dark. “I ran into a driver and was able to get a glimpse into his mind. He had just received payment to purposefully crash the car he was driving.”

Hitoshi’s world literally veered upside down, and Asano had to grab his shoulders to keep him from falling down. “P-P-Payment?” God, he was going to be sick. He couldn’t take this.

The principal continued on anyway. “Yes. I was disgusted by his weakness, by how quickly he was willing to take a life in exchange for money. I quickly left to find security, planning on stopping him, but I got distracted when I saw your parents leaving the benefit. I froze up, didn’t dare move for fear they’d see me. Your mother wanted to get home early. She was talking about how her son was upset they were gone, and she didn’t want to leave him alone any longer.”

Hitoshi clutched the photo in his hand as he stared down at his mother’s smiling face. Tears threatened to spill, and he breathed heavily as he tried to reign in his emotions.

“In my foolish stalling, I didn’t even see who their driver was until it was too late.” The principal suddenly slammed his fist on the table, making both teens jump. The man looked absolutely murderous. “It was that pathetic bastard. I rushed to stop them, but I wasn’t fast enough. I called the security team, made them give me a car and drove after them myself, hoping to stop them. To save them.”

The principal choked on those words, and the room went silent. Hitoshi felt like his heart had completely crawled out of his chest. He didn’t need to hear the rest of the story, didn’t want to hear the gruesome retelling of his parents’ death — no, _murder_ — but at the same time, he _had_ to.

“I was the first one to arrive at the scene,” Principal Asano spoke up, and both Hitoshi and the younger Asano jolted. “I found the car in the ditch. I tried to get to them, tried to help them. I got to your mother first, opened her eyes to _see_ and found nothing. She was already dead. Toshio...I still saw something in Toshio’s mind — his large, never-stopping mind.” This was nothing Hitoshi didn’t already know, but it hurt to hear, nonetheless. “I had already called 911 when I realized the driver was still alive.”

 _This_ was new. Hitoshi had always been told the driver died on impact; it’s why they were never able to truly determine a cause. But if he was alive…

“I was so angry. How dare a weak man like him survive? How dare he attack the strong? He had a piece of glass in his neck, but it was far from life-threatening. He was sitting there, begging me to help him to pull him out. Without thinking, I pushed that glass through his neck and let him bleed out. I had to leave before the police arrived, but I never stopped thinking about it. I found the man who paid the driver and destroyed his life, getting him fired from his job. He was a competing neurosurgeon, couldn’t take being bested. Drove him to suicide eventually. When I later heard Toshio was in a coma, it was the final straw. Not only had someone so weak been the cause of so much pain, but he made a strong man weak in the process. I couldn’t bring myself to go anywhere near your family. I had myself added to the list of people to be alerted when Toshio woke, but he never did. I never even saw the name Shinsou again until you came to school at Kunugigaoka of all places.”

The principal sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to compose himself — as if he hadn’t just told two teenagers that he murdered someone and other dark secrets. “I believe this is where I apologize. Hitoshi, I am deeply sorry for my behavior toward you. Seeing you, after years of me nursing and worsening my burdens, snapped something inside of me. I wanted to make sure you were not weak like your father. I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t end up like him, that you would thrive in society among the best, not fall among the stepping stones. And when I learned of your home life from Asano, well, that angered me again. I always assumed you would’ve been taken care of; it never crossed my mind that your family would not step in for you. Hearing the news just confirmed another oversight, another weakness on my part. It infuriated me, and I lashed out inappropriately. For that, I am sorry.”

Hitoshi couldn’t help but exchange a look with an equally flustered looking Asano. “...my father was never weak, Principal, and neither am I. But...thank you for telling me this,” he eventually said, unsure how else to respond — to any of this, really.

“I suppose you’re right.” The principal smiled sadly, and he turned to Asano. “I also owe a lifetime of apologies to you, my son. I allowed my own fear-driven ideals to ruin much of your life in my attempt to make you strong. I’m truly ashamed. I hope, as your father, I can one day redeem myself to you.”

To the shock of both teens, the man held out a hand — completely ungloved — to his son. Asano eyes were bulging and looked like he was about to pass out before he smirked and took the hand, shaking it.

“I hope so too, father.”

It was a touching moment in an incredibly odd way, but Hitoshi felt his brain much too fogged to think much of it. He was still focusing on not throwing up when he felt a surprisingly gentle hand touch his forearm, and for the first time since the Reaper attack, he didn’t shove the hand away.

“I’m telling you this for many reasons, Gakushuu, Hitoshi. To acknowledge my ideologies' defeat, to clear my heart and start new. But most of all, for you to know my intentions last time you were in my office, Hitoshi. I understand how I came off, and at the time I did it deliberately, to establish my strength and dominance. But I want you to know that truly, my offer back then was not as targeting for your quirk by any means. I don’t need it, after all. My brainwashing craft is quite perfected.” Hitoshi snorted, and it was awfully snotty. The principal grinned too.

“I know you made yourself plenty clear, but I feel, as your father’s best friend — even if he may not see me that way — that I am obligated to protect you. It hurts me more than anything to know I failed you for six years. So, you should know the offer still stands if you ever find yourself in need of it. I promise not to report anything,” he added quickly, clearly seeing the panic on Hitoshi’s face. “But if you find yourself with nowhere to turn, my door is open, as it should have always been.”

This was all too much to handle: his past was thrown into question, some of his darkest fears confirmed, and he learned in the past ten minutes what felt like more than he ever did this school year. He wasn’t sure if he trusted Principal Asano — he had an itemized list of reasons not to. But as he stares down at the photo of his father with Principal Asano and the school children, smiling casually like old friends (which they were, he notes in shock), he can’t help but hesitate. 

Because that’s what his father would want him to do. His father, the same man who went to a charity benefit, even though he hated charity benefits, for a man he supposedly hated, but clearly not so much.

“Well,” Hitoshi finally said, wiping at his face. “I can’t exactly turn you down and storm off like last time anymore. I mean, you did hold me as a baby.”

It was so incredibly weird to say, and he’s pretty sure he made Asano choke on his spit, but the principal was clearly amused. He laughed heartily, an evil yet clearly playful glint coming back to his eyes. 

“Oh, I did more than just hold you,” he said. “I’m fairly certain I have pictures of you and Asano bathing together when you were infants, if you want to—”

“No!” The two teens screeched, jumping far away from each other because, just, _no._ Hitoshi’s not sure he can ever look at Asano again.

“Yeah, this is officially gotten too weird to handle. This is where I storm off,” the brainwasher said, making his way to the door while Principal Asano laughed heartily. It was surprisingly not a painful sound for someone who probably never laughed anymore.

Before he left, Hitoshi paused at the door, a thought suddenly coming to his mind. He’s not sure where it came from, but he knew it had to be said.

“Oh, and sir?” he said. The principal paused in his musings to look back over at him. “He went for you.”

Both Asanos blinked. “Pardon?” the elder one asked.

“My father,” Hitoshi clarified. “You said you never knew if he went to the charity ball for you or for Kunugigaoka. I didn’t get to know him for long, but Dad hated being awarded for his accomplishments. There’s no way he went to relish in the success of an old cram school he helped with. He went to support you.”

The principal looked thoughtful, staring down at the photos in the box again. He even sounded choked up again. “Thank you, Hitoshi… I — well — thank you.”

Hitoshi smirked. “No problem, Uncle Asano!” 

He bolted out of the door with a cackle, but waited long enough to hear the younger Asano definitely choke on his spit as the principal laughed again.

-.-.-.-

Maybe he was caught up on the principal’s confession, and how he let his friendship with his father not only become ruined, but ruin himself, but a few days later, Hitoshi finally worked up the courage to confront Midoriya — for real, this time. They were cleaning up spilled props in the storage shack after the play they just had to put on for the school. It was just the two of them, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

“Midoriya,” he said. “Something’s been off lately. What is it?”

The green-haired boy paused in his sweeping. “What do you mean, Shinsou?”

Hitoshi stopped cleaning as well and leaned against the wall. “You’ve just felt off lately. I feel like I can’t even talk to you anymore, and I don’t know why.”

Midoriya looked genuinely sad. “I...I’m sorry, Shinsou. I guess I have been more distant lately; there’s just been a lot on my plate, is all. I’m sorry if it felt like I was pushing you away.”

God, even when Hitoshi was all suspicious of him, the boy still happened to look so freaking precious. Like a sad, kicked puppy. A puppy Hitoshi kicked. Damn it. 

“It’s...okay. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t something I did. You’re okay, though, right? You’re not too overwhelmed with this ‘thing’ or whatever?”

The green-haired boy paused. “I…I don’t know yet. I want to tell you so badly, Shinsou, but I don’t want to risk—”

“Oh, there you two are,” Korosensei interrupted. “I was wondering where you two went off two. Would you like my assistance in cleaning up?”

Midoriya nodded ferociously. “That’d be great, Korosensei!” 

Between the three of them, especially with Korosensei’s enhanced speed, the job was quick work. Their teacher busied himself with picking up the small pieces, and seemed completely unaware of his surroundings. Sometimes, the brainwasher thinks, killing Korosensei seems like it’d almost be _too_ easy, especially given the vast number of odd weaknesses the man had. Granted, he knew it wasn’t so simple. Despite his weaknesses, their teacher was still the most powerful creature around. You’d have to be a super beast like him to even stand a chance.

Hitoshi was so lost in his musings, he almost didn’t realize Midoriya was speaking. 

“Actually, since you’re both here,” the boy was saying, “I think it’s time I finally come clean. I don’t know if I can hold it in much longer.”

Hitoshi turned to find Midoriya standing there, a set of green tentacles bursting from his shoulder blades. There was just enough time to think _‘What the fuck?’_ before the tentacles struck out at lightning speed and the whole shack exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been getting a lot of requests to make Nagisa a more prominent character, and I feel like crap because I have kinda been subconsciously avoiding using him since he's the MC of the story I'm retelling, and I don't want to regurgitate the original manga to you since you probably already know it... But I promise that Nagisa will have some big moments coming up, especially during the class civil war!
> 
> Also, I've been contemplating doing a side story type book where it's just a bunch of snippets/deleted scenes/requests of moments I didn't get to fit into the main storyline. You guys would be able to make requests and suggestions and I'd get to dive deeper into the side characters. Thoughts? Yes or no? Let me know!
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form, energy beam, superior senses  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog: Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back  
> Grip: Grip  
> Gastro: Metallic Taste  
> Shiro: Potential  
> Itona: Technopathy  
> Mr. Matsukata: Cancellation  
> The Reaper: Frankenstein  
> Nagisa's Mom: Lava Fury
> 
> In a nutshell: Shinsou is plagued by nightmares of his time with the Reaper and feels himself drifting away from those around him...but not as much as he feels Midoriya is. 3-E hosts a restaurant, lots of people make cameos, Nagisa and Shinsou have a heart to heart, Asano and Shinsou reach an understanding and have a bro-moment, E-class literally fights for the top spots, and Itona gives Shinsou a present. Principal Asano sister snaps, but then later reveals his deep dark secret: he’s Hitoshi’s father (THAT’S A JOKE). Shinsou deals with the revelations and is no way ready for the bomb Midoriya hits him with.


	11. To Fight Each Other (Ep. 36-39)

The tentacles gave Izuku a burst of power, but at the end of the day, he was no idiot. He knew he couldn’t go rushing into battle right away; not with a weapon he was so inexperienced with. He needed time to hone his new secret blade — to understand it.

So, he did what he does best. He started researching it. And what better way to start your research than to go to the man who seems to have all the answers.

It’s not hard to track down Shiro. Spend an hour on a mountainside with your newly developed tentacles, and the man comes right to you.

“I see you’ve come to understand your true potential,” the man called out, sounding pleased. “Good. We can now move forward with the—”

“Wait,” Izuku interrupted, clearly bothering the white-clad man, but he didn’t really care. “There’s something I need to know first. Questions I need answered about this...this power.”

Because quite frankly, he was terrified of it. He was terrified of what he might become, of what he could do. If he wasn’t careful, would he hurt those around him? Would the tentacles act against him like they did Itona? Were Shinsou and his friends in danger just being around him in these early stages? Would they ever be safe around him? Was he—

“I see your habit for mumbling is still present,” Shiro deadpanned, folding his arms. “Nevertheless, let’s hear it. What do you wish to know?”

What did he wish to know? He had way too many questions to be answered in one night. Most of his questions probably didn’t even have answers. But there was one thing he couldn’t figure out, one problem that may not be directly correlated to his tentacles, but mattered all the same.

“How do you know so much?” he finally asked. “You know how to create tentacles and how they work; you talk about Korosensei like you know him personally. Explain.”

Shiro scoffed. “That’s quite a broad question, but I’ll humor you. The answer for my knowledge on the tentacles and your teacher is the same, after all. I created the tentacles when I created your Korosensei.”

Izuku jolted back like he was hit with a ton of bricks. “You…You _created_ Korosensei?”

The white-clad man chuckled. “Well, he certainly wasn’t born that way. And, as his creator, it’s my job to destroy what I create. Call it playing God, but, well… Call it that.”

The green-haired boy could barely believe his ears. “So you just want to kill him? Why?”

“Oh, Izuku, don’t ask stupid questions. Why else are you even in that little class? Why is everyone so obsessed with the octopus? Because by March, he will destroy the Earth.”

“How do you know that?” Izuku cried. “Korosensei, he’s a good man, a good teacher! Everyone is saying he’s a villain, but how can a villain care so much for kids like us? How do you know that?”

Shiro sighed and began to walk away. “I’m not here to explain how the universe works. If you’re just going to ask questions, I’m going to lea—”

Green tentacles shot out from Izuku’s shoulder blades and stabbed the ground in front of Shiro, locking him in place. Izuku felt his blood boil uncontrollably.

“Answer. The. Question.”

Shiro looked back at him, and Izuku liked to think he was shocked even though his mask made it impossible to see his emotions. The white-clad man sighed.

“Your teacher is not a good man. He is a monster that will destroy everything and everyone you love. I would know — he murdered my fiancé, after all. I think you knew her for a little bit. Does the name Yukimura Aguri ring any bells?”

It did, and it shook Izuku to his core. He drew back his tentacles, letting them hover above his head. “Yukimura-sensei…He killed…?”

Shiro nodded. “In cold blood too. It was a horrid, painful death, especially considering how much she cared for him — maybe even loved him.” The man spat the words, and Izuku felt his heart go cold. “Now, I don’t know about you, Izuku, but don’t you find it odd the creature murdered her and then immediately after declares he wants her job?”

“No…Korosensei, he wouldn’t — he cares about us!”

“He seemed to care about my dear Aguri too, all the way up to the time he held her bleeding body in his tentacles. Your Korosensei does not care, he kills. And unless you do something about it, he will kill so many more, including those you care most about — your mother, your purple friend, all of your classmates, they will die because of this monster. Whether it be in cold blood like Aguri or by blowing up the moon, that waits to be seen unless _you_ stop him.”

Izuku could only hear a rush of whispers and the beating of his heart as he took a step away from Shiro. Realizing he had to get out of here, he used the tentacles to launch himself far, far away at lightning speeds.

He thinks of Yukimura-sensei, and how no one had really blinked when she disappeared. He always assumed the governments paid her off to give up her position once the world’s biggest threat demanded he get it, but to think she was dead all along and no one even knew? Kind, encouraging Yukimura-sensei, with her cringy graphic tees and kind words, despite how much the students pushed back. She was the first teacher he ever had that didn’t question him when he said he wanted to be a hero. And she had been murdered. 

Did Korosensei really kill Yukimura-sensei? How could he? Why would he? And why would he keep it a secret? Were they all just his next victims?

Izuku brushed a hand over one of his tentacles. They terrified him. He didn’t know how to control them. Part of him wondered if they could control him. But at the end of the day, he needed to learn how to use them, to wield them. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. If he didn’t learn to control them, then he could hurt Shinsou and his other classmates, and then he’d never be able to save them.

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out his E-class quirk journal and wrote out a new page in the very back. If there was one thing he was good at, it was quirk analysis and research. For the time being, he was going to learn to wield his tentacles, to understand them. He couldn’t risk hurting anyone else, and he couldn’t risk someone finding out before he got a chance to strike. With these tentacles, he could finally be the hero everyone needed. He could save people, just like All-Might — no, better than All-Might. Because he was going to be the one to kill Korosensei.

He was going to be the greatest hero to ever live.

-.-.-.-

He spent the weeks after the tentacles developed doing two things: training them so he knew what they were capable of, and avoiding his friends as much as possible.

The first thing was a given; Shiro said the tentacles were like a quirk, a snippet of Korosensei’s strength, but Izuku had no idea how far it went. How incorporated were these tentacles? Did they affect his entire body, or was the strength only limited to them as an attachment?

He determined after a few experiments that it was likely the latter for the most part. While he did notice some bits of him as a whole change, like how his ability to see things at heightened speeds was better and his endurance increased, the true power didn’t extend to the rest of him. While his tentacles could move at supersonic speeds, Izuku couldn’t run or move any faster than originally. It was more like having a biotic weapon attached to his back; a weapon that spoke to him and told him what to do and was insanely powerful.

And therein lies his reasoning for avoiding everyone — because the tentacles were powerful, and most of the time, they called the shots. Izuku found that if he started using them for long term, his control would slowly begin to seep away from his. He had very little control over this quirk, and from Shiro told him, he likely never would. He never went through the proper process like Korosensei presumingly did. He didn’t know if it was possible for the tentacles to suddenly lash out without his telling, and that meant everyone around him could be in danger.

Shinsou and Nagisa and Karma and all of his friends could be in danger.

And well, what better way to ensure their safety than minimizing their interactions with the threat. He told himself, until he felt he had a better grasp on the tentacles and the perfect chance to attack came, he would hold them back. They were supposed to be the ones he was protecting, after all. If they got hurt by him...Izuku’s not sure if he could take it.

Izuku just hoped that if the perfect moment to attack ever did arise, that he could hold the tentacles back enough to save his friends.

-.-.-.-

Unfortunately, that perfect moment did come, right when Shinsou was standing next to him. And though Izuku fought and fought with the tentacles, their burning control wouldn’t let him stop them. All they saw was Korosensei standing so oblivious with his back to them, and they knew he wouldn’t get another chance like this. His tentacles screamed to be set free, and after hiding them for weeks on end, Izuku didn’t have the strength to deny them any longer. They lashed out completely on their own accord, pummeling the creature at rocket speeds — Mach 15, to be exact, he discovered after some testing. Not as fast as their teacher, but the sheer shock of the attack should more than enough to compensate for it. 

He used his tentacles to keep above Korosensei, shoving and attacking his teacher into the ground. It was clear the octopus was panicking, and excitement lit up within the tentacles. All of those who tried and failed to kill Korosensei seemed to lack at least one of two things: the strength to overpower him, or the knowledge to outsmart him. The Reaper came close, but even he failed to have to foresight to take into account the bond Korosensei had with his students.

But Izuku...he was a completely unsuspecting opponent. He was the quirkless one, the one that had to work hard for results, the one that liked analyzing more than assassinating. And because of that, no one knew Korosensei better than he did; he had every strength, every weakness, every quirk memorized. That combined with his newfound tentacles that allow him to almost match the octopus in terms of abilities, and he might actually be able to take Korosensei down.

_We will take him down,_ the tentacles hissed. _We will save the world._

As he pushed Korosensei to the floor and saw his teacher’s shock and terror, Izuku couldn’t help but frown. “I’m sorry, Korosensei,” he said. “But I have to save them. I have to.”

His tentacles knocked Korosensei to the side and prepared for the final attack, but he reared back when he saw Korosensei’s tentacles glowing. He recalled this move from the last time Itona fought the octopus, and Izuku had just enough time to block his body with his tentacles before the light exploded.

Korosensei used the distraction to escape, landing on the field while Izuku launched himself onto the roof of the shack. He saw his classmates start to gather. Shinsou was leaning heavily on Karma and staring with horror; Izuku couldn’t bring himself to look at anyone — especially his best friend — in the eye as he focused on Korosensei.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” he announced. “I didn’t want these tentacles when they were forced upon me, but when my failures kept stacking up in front of me, I couldn’t turn the power away. I can’t save the world being quirkless, and I can’t sit and let you kill everyone I love like you killed Yukimura-sensei.”

He heard his classmates collectively gasp at the revelation, but Izuku’s focus was on Korosensei. The teacher winced visibly, and it was all the confirmation his aching heart needed. 

“I know killing isn’t the most heroic thing to do, but saving the world is,” Izuku continued. “And if using these tentacles is the sacrifice that must be paid to do so, then I have no choice but to pay it.”

He kept his eyes stern and tentacles flickering to hide the bubbling emotion in his chest. He reminded himself, as he looked down at the sad, broken expression on Korosensei’s face, that this was a monster, a murderer, not their teacher. He listened to the tentacle’s whispers and told himself this was for the best.

“Izuku…” But then Shinsou voice nearly broke his concentration, and he thought of how shit he felt when his best friend kept asking him what was wrong and why he was so distant. He thought about how much he hated lying and keeping secrets from Shinsou, but the tentacles told him it was only fair. _He’s been keeping secrets from you,_ they would say. _Principal Asano, the Reaper. He hasn’t trusted you with anything. He doesn’t deserve to know._ And Izuku listened.

Knowing it wouldn’t be long before his resolve broke, Izuku fixed Korosensei with one last hard stare. “Tomorrow, I will inform you where and when to meet me, and then I will kill you. I know I can.”

Not waiting for a response, Izuku pushed off with the tentacles and propelled himself into the sky.

-.-.-.-

He waited again on the mountainside, and sure enough, Shiro appeared.

“I see you attacked on your own accord. So disappointing. The surprise aspect was completely ruined because of your actions,” he said, and Izuku rolled his eyes.

“I am not your tool,” he spat. “You forced these tentacles on me, hoping to exact my potential in killing Korosensei. So, did your plan work?”

The white-clad man did not respond, but frankly, Izuku wasn’t really looking for an answer in the first place. 

“I never wanted these tentacles, so you cannot argue I’m in any debt to you,” he continued. “The only reason I haven’t tried to destroy them is because I understand what kind of opportunity has presented itself. I know I would be foolish to pass it up, which is _why_ I attacked on my own accord. I have no intention of becoming a weapon for you like Itona.”

“You will get yourself killed,” Shiro snapped back. “While you may not be experiencing pain, that doesn’t mean your body has accepted the tentacles — very few ever do, especially when you openly express hate for them, and it takes a much longer incubation and intense scientific experimentation that you never received. If you remain adamant on acting on your own plan and refusing my help, I have no doubt you’ll be dead in days.”

Izuku glanced at his tentacles and then back at Shiro. “And if it means Korosensei is dead with me, then I’m willing to accept such a fate.”

And he meant it. He was willing to do anything to save everyone from whatever evil fate Korosensei had planned. Even if it cost him his life, he would do it to save them.

-.-.-.-

He emailed Korosensei to meet him at the zebra grass field at 7:00 PM, and as expected, his teacher — and the entirety of E-class — was there right on the dot. 

“Let’s end this once and for all, Korosensei,” Izuku said, keeping his steely eyes locked on his target. 

“Midoriya, you must remove those tentacles!” his teacher called out. “They are too dangerous, please let me help before they kill you!”

_Don’t listen to him,_ the tentacles hissed. _He’s faking his concern. It’s all to distract you._

“My life isn’t what matters right now,” Izuku snapped back. “It’s ending yours that does.”

“Alright, Jolly Green, cut the self-sacrificial bullshit right now,” Shinsou barked. The brainwasher looked well-recovered from the attack, which was a relief, but the angered look on his face was enough to distract Izuku from the tentacle’s urges. “We all want to kill Korosensei, but what you’re doing is insanity!”

“You said yourself that you didn’t even want the tentacles,” Kataoka argued. “Please, let us remove them! You don’t need them to stop him.”

“That’s right!” Sugino added. “Being quirkless has never made you weak in our eyes, Midoriya! We’ll stop Korosensei like we always planned: together!”

“You say he murdered Yukimura-sensei, but I think even you agree that he’s earned the right to explain himself,” begged Nagisa. “Just hear him out!”

“Korosensei has more than proven himself to us,” Karma stated with a sigh. “Killing him right now is hardly the action of a hero.”

Izuku gritted his teeth and tried to rein in his emotions. He felt like his head was splitting in two, his thoughts fighting with the whispers of the tentacles. His body felt uncomfortably hot, worse than any fever he’d experienced.

Itona stepped forward. “You must know your lack of quirk means your body as no defense system against the tentacles. Shiro tried to give them to me, hoping that having a less offensive quirk would mean that my body would be defended but wouldn’t overpower the tentacles, but he was wrong. The tentacles aren’t satisfied until they’ve completely consumed you, and without a quirk, there’s no doubt they’ll burn you out.”

_Yes, burn. Let us burn,_ the tentacles screamed, and in his splitting confusion, Izuku couldn’t stop his body from acting. His tentacles flicked and fire roared to life on the tips. His classmates backed up in shock, and Izuku felt the full strength of the tentacles soar through his body.

_This isn’t right!_ his mind cried out, but the tentacles crushed the thought.

“Korosensei once told me that being quirkless stood as an open slate for the greatness I could achieve,” he heard himself saying, but at this point, it felt like his body was completely out of his control. “And if my quirklessness only lets me harness the tentacles undisturbed, then it’s greatness you will get!”

Korosensei tried to call out to stop him, but Izuku’s tentacles lashed out, lighting the grass on fire in a circle so it was only him and the octopus inside — no one can disturb them now. 

“This is between you and me, Korosensei,” he said. “You taught me to use my weaknesses as my strengths, after all. Let’s see if your lesson holds true.”

He could hear his classmates screaming for him to stop, with Shinsou’s voice ringing out the loudest. “Stop it, Izuku! This isn’t you! If you kill yourself killing Korosensei, think of everything you're giving up, everyone you're leaving behind! This isn’t how you become a hero!”

Izuku’s face turned dark. “I’m sorry, Hitoshi. But I have to do this, for everyone — for you.”

The brainwasher reared back like he had been slapped in the face, and that’s when Izuku attacked. He jumped up in the air and sent his tentacles after Korosensei at full speed, keeping his teacher distracted with dodging. The fire stopped any outsiders from interfering, allowing the tentacles to focus solely on taking their target out. He ripped off one of Korosensei’s tentacles, and that’s when Izuku felt the tentacles truly take control.

He was a puppet in his own body, and it wasn’t like when Shinsou used his quirk; it was much, much worse. It was violating, painful, and so, so hot. He felt like his very existence was being melted out of his own body.

_Itona did try to warn you,_ his mind argued, but at this point, it was too late to listen.

“We’re running out of time,” he could hear Itona explain to his classmates. “At the point, it doesn’t matter whether the tentacles accomplish their goal; unless we act now, by the time the battle is over, he will likely die.”

God, why didn’t he listen to them? How long had he let the tentacles make his decisions? Thinking back, they’ve probably been calling the shots all along; forcing him to keep them a secret, telling him to ignore anyone’s pleas or advice. He let them play him, believed their lies that they were making him a hero.

_Please, Korosensei,_ he tried to plea, even if the tentacles wouldn’t let him speak. _Please, help me. Save me._

-.-.-.-

As if he heard his cry, Korosensei instantly started trying to communicate with E-class to find a solution. He created a clone of his head — the most he could do thanks to Izuku’s onslaught of attacks — and informed them that they had to find a way to distract the tentacle’s bloodlust so it’d be possible to remove them before they killed Izuku. 

“I’ll allow him to strike at my heart, and that’s when one of you will come in and distract Midoriya long enough that I can pull out the tentacles with minimal damage!” Korosensei explained.

“Your heart? But won’t that kill you first?” cried Kataoka.

Takebayashi pulled out a slip from his belly button. “My Statistic says there’s a 50/50 chance you’ll die, sir!”

“Then that’s a risk I’m willing to take! I’d much rather die than not have every single one of my students graduate!”

“But sir, what can we do?” asked Isogai. “Even if you do survive, what’s strong enough to distract him?”

“Nagisa, do you think your quirk is strong enough to force Midoriya to calm down?” Kanzaki asked. The blue-haired boy paused before shaking his head.

“His emotional state is out of this world! I think trying to distract the tentacles that way will only turn their bloodlust toward me!”

“Not to mention there’s no way to get to Midoriya!” added Mimura. “The flames are way too hot for any of us to just walk through!”

To everyone’s shock, it was Karma who stepped up next.

“Leave that part to me,” the red-haired boy said, his face unusually serious as he rolled up his sleeves. “Shinsou? I believe you know what you need to do.”

Izuku’s attention turned back to the tentacles, which were striking out to hit Korosensei right through the heart. He could vaguely feel the _squelch_ as they ran his teacher through; he held his breath and prayed they failed, and for once, his prayers were answered. Korosensei, though wounded, lashed out and grabbed Izuku’s body and pinned them together.

“Now, students!”

Karma stepped forward and held his hands out towards the flames. Instantly, the area became very cold, and the flames, while they didn’t go away, shrunk in size and brightness. The heat they once contained had vanished.

“Go, Shinsou!” the red-haired boy barked, his face scrunched in concentration. Izuku had just enough time to mentally celebrate — _I knew you were lying about your quirk, Karma, I knew it, I knew it_ — before Shinsou surged forward and kissed him.

-.-.-.-

Izuku counted how many times his brain stopped and restarted.

_One._

What was happening? What the _hell_ was happening?!

_Two._

Shinsou...was kissing...him.

_Three._

Holy shit, Shinsou was _kissing_ him!

_Four._

He blinked. This couldn’t be real.

_Five._

His tentacles hissed, tried to scream out, but suddenly, they weren’t the loudest thoughts in his head anymore.

_Six._

After all, how could they be when _his best friend was kissing him?!_

_Seven._

He felt his mind slowly regain control of his body. His fingers twitched ever so slightly.

_Eight._

Shinsou’s hand cupped his cheek, and a new thought set in Izuku’s mind: _Oh god, they could still be friends after this, right?_

The hits kept coming in and in, and Izuku doesn’t know if he closed his eyes or blacked out. The next thing he registered, however, was Shinsou pulling away and holding him tightly while Korosensei made quick work of pulling out the tentacles.

It felt like a dense fog was cleansed from his mind and body, and for the first time in weeks, Izuku could breathe again. It was finally silent — perhaps too much, but Izuku couldn’t bring himself to care. He could see Shinsou’s lips moving, trying to talk to him, and could see his classmates crowding in with cries of concern, but for once, he heard nothing. 

The whispers of the tentacles were gone, and he could finally think.

-.-.-.-

Slowly, Izuku regained his senses, but part of him wished he didn’t.

He decidedly couldn’t look at Shinsou anymore, but it seemed the feeling was mutual if the brainwasher’s harsh blush was anything to go by. His classmate’s taunts also weren’t helping in any way.

“Woohoo, Shinsou, taking him out like a true Honeypot pro!” taunted Okajima while Fuwa wiped away blood from her nose.

“I never considered myself a fujoshi, but…”

Ms. Jelavić shoved her way forward so she was inches away from Shinsou’s face. “Thirty hits in ten seconds? Not bad, but in all honesty, it should be forty. We’ll just have to work on that.”

Shinsou growled and pushed the woman away. “Like hell, Bitch-sensei!” Izuku noticed Yada and Maehara standing to the side, looking thoughtful. Maehara muttered, “Man, my best is twenty-five.” and suddenly Izuku wondered what kind of discipleship Ms. Jelavić was forming.

“Karma...what was that?” Nagisa asked, and instantly the silence returned as everyone turned their attention to the red-haired boy. Karma scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Look, I don’t think it’s my turn to spill my life story. Korosensei agreed he’d tell us what happened with Yukimura-sensei after we stopped Midoriya, so I’m all ears, Octopus.”

He was deflecting, but he had a point. That didn’t stop Nagisa from looking so clearly bothered. Before anyone could press, however, a gunshot flew by, barely missing their still-injured teacher.

“Yes, I agree with the boy. Tell us, Korosensei,” a cold voice called out.

_Shiro._

The white-cloaked man stood at the edge of the field, a dark form silently accompanying him. 

“Such a waste of potential,” Shiro said, eyeing Izuku with disgust. “It seems not even the tentacles were able to overcome your pathetic weakness. Perhaps my quirk was telling me there was a 99% chance you’d fail.”

“Yeah, that or your quirk is useless as fuck,” Terasaka growled. “I mean, it failed just as badly for Itona.”

Shiro scoffed. “It’s true my quirk has not been as reliable lately, but I’m hardly to blame.” The man reached up and took off his mask, finally revealing his face. He was as cynical looking as one could imagine, and the robotic prosthetic left eye stuck out like a sore thumb. 

“This monster took _everything_ from me,” Shiro continued, and his voice was noticeably higher — must have worn voice alterer to further disguise himself. “My research, my fiance, part of my quirk. I will not stop until I make you pay.”

“Yanagisawa. I should’ve known,” Korosensei hissed. Shiro sneered and turned to the dark-cloaked figure next to him.

“It’s time for us to leave, 2.0,” he said. “As I’m sure my past projects have shown, patience will surely be the best solution to kill this creature once and for all.”

Izuku flinched visibly at the jab as Shiro disappeared, and he felt the attention turn to him. He bit his lip in a pitiful attempt to hold back tears.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, but he may as well have shouted it. “I felt so helpless, especially after the Reaper, watching so many I care about get hurt. I wanted to become strong. Shiro secretly injected me with the tentacle seeds ages ago — it’s why the poison didn’t affect me as much — but he didn’t activate them until more recently. I wanted to tell you, to get them removed, but I just thought...”

Tears sprung in his eyes, and he noticed that many of his classmates were crying too. “I just thought for once that maybe I wouldn’t be so useless. Being quirkless has haunted me my entire life; before I met you guys, people only saw me with pity or disgust. They told me I was pathetic or a waste of space. I knew I was becoming strong with my training, but actually having a power, a quirk to call my own...I’m embarrassed to admit how selfish it made me.”

Izuku barely held back a sob when Shinsou knelt down in front of him. “Izuku,” he said softly and way nicer than Izuku deserved. “When I told you my quirk, all you did was tell me how amazing it was. No one — _no one_ — has ever done that for me. When I made my deal with you to become heroes together, I meant it, even though you’re quirkless because I _know_ you can do it. You’re one of the smartest people I know and one of the best fighters in the class, but above all, you inspire people. If you can’t become a hero with that, then no one deserves to become a hero.

“We know Korosensei is no saint — he’s the Number One Villain, after all. But at the end of the day, we know what a good person and teacher he really is. While the news of Yukimura-sensei is shocking, we owe it to him to hear him out.”

Izuku couldn’t hold back a sob this time. “Thank you, Hitoshi. Thank you.”

-.-.-.-

They all gathered around Korosensei as they awaited his explanation. It was clear the creature was reluctant to reveal his past, but he knew he owed it to them.

“There are two things you must know first before I can explain my past,” their teacher began. “The first is that until two years ago, I was the assassin known as the Reaper—” Everyone visibly tensed. “—and the second is that whether you kill me or not, come March, I will die. Whether I die alone or with the rest of the world is in your hands.”

And from there, their super-creature teacher began to explain his very human past.

“I was born in the slums, with death being the only truth I ever knew. Even those with the most powerful of abilities could be taken out, and so the life of an assassin called to me. In years, I was a name of nightmares; the most deadly assassin to ever exist. Blessed with not only immense strength and intelligence, but charisma that lured in targets with ease. The name ‘The Reaper’ came along by my 1000th victim, but underneath all of that blood, no one truly knew the source of my strength. Victims and assassins alike wondered what made the Reaper such an unstoppable killer. Was he blessed with a quirk that allowed him to kill so easily? Was he truly born to kill? But alas, they were all wrong. There was no secret but prodigious skill and practiced bloodlust. After all, there was a reason I was so drawn to the idea of killing and proving my power. Because even more so in a life in the slums, I knew what happened to those God did not create equal.”

Izuku suddenly realized where this was going, but he didn’t believe it until he heard it.

“That’s right, boys and girls. Before I became what I am today, I was quirkless.”

The entire class could only gape in silence at the revelation, and Izuku felt his own brain tumble out of his head. The octopus met his eyes and looked _sad._

“When Midoriya talked about the urge to feel powerful, I knew it all too well. It’s why I urged you so much to embrace your quirklessness because I knew it was possible to become great without a quirk. It was my foolishness to think a few words of assurance could outway a lifetime of prejudice, and I apologize for that.”

Izuku bit down a cry while Isogai asked, “But sir...how did you come to possess so many quirks?”

Korosensei sighed. “I was betrayed by my successor — the Reaper you all met. He resented me because I would punish him for continuously taking on more and more quirks; I wanted him to learn to become strong without them because those who are most reliant on their quirks are the easiest to exploit and kill. I was captured, but instead of being incarcerated for my crimes, I found myself in a lab. Yanagisawa’s lab.

“The man wished to uncover a way to make humans capable of holding multiple quirks. He was hired by a mysterious man who would somehow provide Yanagisawa with quirks, and it was his mission to find a way to implement them into human beings without harm. It was Yanagisawa’s theory that anti-matter was the key; to prove it, Yanagisawa wanted to find a way to grow anti-matter within a test subject, and then inject multiple quirks within the subject, hoping the modified body thanks to the anti-matter would help the subject survive the onslaught of power. He tried for months, but in each subject, the anti-matter would kill them before he could even start injecting the quirks. But then he saw me.”

Their teacher scowled deeply. “Apparently my potential read 100%. He paid my apprentice off to betray me and captured me. He said I was the perfect test subject; immensely strong but incredibly quirkless. I became his guinea pig, and every day I had to endure endless experiments and torture. I was sure I could’ve overpowered my captives during many instances, but my escape would be unlikely. I had to wait, locked in a glass room and observed like a pet. It was through this that I met Yukimura Aguri.”

Their confusion must’ve been visible, Izuku’s especially. Why would their old teacher be working in Yanagisawa’s lab?

“She was assigned as a handler of sorts. Yanagisawa and she were engaged, but it was strictly business. The man couldn’t care less if she lived or died, which was why she was assigned to work so closely with me, the deadliest man alive. He didn’t want to risk losing anyone truly important in that position,” the teacher spat the words, and his hatred was felt among everyone. 

“At first, I thought of her as a possible asset in my escape. She fascinated me, sure, especially with her quirk. Her quirk let her see one’s greatest weakness, but instead of using it to exploit as someone like me admittedly would have done, she chose to put it toward teaching and improving students. Students, she would tell me, that were set up to fail, and to see themselves as failures. Students that feared or hated their quirks and their skills and their abilities, and could never seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Throughout our year together, my view on her...changed. Whether it was her unbelievably cringy shirts, her caring nature, or her love for her teaching job she refused to give up, I’m not sure. It was likely a combination of all three. Despite knowing what I was capable of, she treated me with kindness. I admired her passion for teaching, and would even give her tips on lessons. But more than anything, I admired her ability to love.  

“The process of having anti-matter formed on a cellular level was excruciatingly painful. I could literally feel my body changing, becoming something entirely inhuman. The tentacles forming was a sign that my body was changing appropriately, and slowly I began to have quirks injected in me: superior intelligence, unmatched speed, the ability to camouflage, flight, regeneration, and more. I was no longer the man I was before; probably the only reason I didn’t completely lose myself was because Aguri was there.

 “She would chat about the most human things with me, and taught me — someone who never even knew their name or date of birth, much less how to be human — what the term humanity meant. She always told me, whenever the anti-matter started to create the tentacles, that she thought they revealed what I would be like if I was given the opportunity to grow up in normal circumstances. Thinking back on it, I think she was right.”

Korosensei looked up at the sky — at the moon — morosely and touched the crescent moon tie that hid his heart. “On our last day together, she tried to give me a birthday gift. Said that, since I didn’t know my real birthday, then we could celebrate it on the anniversary of the day we met. She was undoubtedly the most amazing person I’d ever met, and I was foolish enough to get attached. I should’ve known, like all things in my life, that I was dooming her to a terrible fate.”

Their teacher looked back down at them. “Just three hours later, the moon exploded. One of Yanagisawa’s earliest anti-matter tests — a lab rat located on the moon — exploded because of an anti-matter energy overload.”

Izuku jolted back, as did much of his classmates. Korosensei...didn’t blow up the moon? The act that ripped the world of hope wasn’t by a villain attack, but by a failed research experiment? How would...why would…?

“Why would he take the blame?” Shinsou whispered just loud enough for Izuku to hear, completely voicing his own thoughts.

If Korosensei heard the shocked whispers, he didn’t acknowledge them. “Aguri overheard Yanagisawa calculating that the same would happen to me by March 13th of the next year. They planned on putting me down to prevent it, but Aguri hoped I could be saved. I figured it was useless, and decided it was time to try out my newfound quirks. I told her to leave if she didn’t want a pointless death, and was so _foolish_ to think she’d listen. I was too caught up in my bloodlust, wanting to take revenge on the people who tortured me by killing them with the very power they gave me. 

“I destroyed the lab, killed the guards, and took out one of Yanagisawa’s eyes so he’d feel the full extent of the potential he saw in me. I didn’t care if I died in a year, and I especially didn’t care if I took the Earth with me. My bloodlust drove me to become a monster, but even then, Aguri still tried to stop me. She could see my greatest weakness and knew there was still humanity in me— still goodness — and it led to her death.”

Korosensei eyes were downcast, and the wind howled to fill the short silence. “One of Yanagisawa’s weapons went off and hit her instead of me, ripping a clean hole through her stomach, and I was so blinded by my bloodlust that I didn’t notice until it was too late. If I had been .01 seconds faster, I could’ve saved her. But I wasn’t. My tentacles only knew how to kill, not heal. All I could do was hold her as she died. 

“Her last request to me was that I’d teach her students. She said they were like me, lost and in need of hope. She believed I could give them — you — that. I swore to myself that I’d keep her dying request and become your teacher. So, when the tentacles asked me what I wanted to be, I told them what Aguri would’ve wanted: to be weak, and to be able to see weakness in others and guide them, protect them. To be a teacher.”

Korosensei held his tentacles in the open, just like he had held his past. “So as you can see, the one who taught me to become a teacher was your Yukimura-sensei. She taught me to not judge people based on how strong or weak they were. She taught me to see the beauty in quirks and the strength in quirklessness. It’s why I’ve dedicated my abilities to the fullest to help you become great, using the best form of education I know: assassination. And maybe through that, the world could be saved as well.”

-.-.-.-

Hearing Korosensei’s past changed E-class. They knew his back story, his reasons for becoming their teacher, and suddenly everything he’d done for them over their nine months together came rushing back in full. From the terrifying instance after they’d hurt that old man, to the cheerful times when they succeeded in grades or spent time together at a festival. And maybe for the first time since it was given to them, they began to feel the weight of the burden put on them.

How could they kill the man who had done so much for them? Who chose to sacrifice his last year alive with a bunch of end-class middle-schoolers? Who asked to become weak for them? How could they ever kill their teacher?

-.-.-.-

Winter break came and past, leaving them with just three months until the fated March 13th, yet not a single student attempted to kill Korosensei over the break. 

Izuku spent most of his holiday break in the hospital, still recovering from his bout with the tentacles. His mother, distraught by his seemingly random illness, wouldn’t let him have visitors for days, as if she feared human interaction could somehow worsen his condition. He didn’t realize how much of a blessing that was until Shinsou and a handful of other classmates walked into his hospital room one day.

“Now, please be gentle with him, he’s still recovering and while the doctors say he should be clear to leave in two days, I don’t want him to experience any stress incase that hurts his recovery and —”

“We promise to be extra careful, Mrs. Midoriya,” Nagisa assured his mother, and she smiled shakily.

“Of course. I’m afraid I have to leave for work, but I promise to come right back to the hospital after my shift, okay sweetie?” she said and Izuku nodded vigorously.

“Bye, Mom!” he said and breathed a sigh of relief when she finally left.

Sugino laughed. “Man, I think all that hovering would make me even more stressed.”

Izuku shrugged sheepishly. “She’s just concerned. We couldn’t tell her why I really needed to go to the hospital, obviously, so I guess she’s just paranoid now.”

“She seems really sweet,” Shinsou commented and _nope, he was not prepared to deal with this yet, this is so embarrassing, stop beating so fast heart, everyone can see you on the monitor, you’re exposing everything!_

“You’ll be back in time for the new term, right?” Nakamura asked, and Izuku was immensely grateful for the distraction.

“Yeah, the doctors should be letting me out in a few days actually. Strangely enough, it’s been kinda nice. Being locked up in here let me escape the reality of facing Korosensei for at least a little bit,” he answered.

“You’re not alone in that,” Sugino replied. “Now that we know Korosensei’s past, it seems everyone’s super reluctant to try assassinating him again.”

“How can we?” Okuda asked. “Knowing how he really was human and everything he’s been through — I love science, but it horrifies me to think it’s the cause of so much pain.”

Nagisa sighed. “It feels like everything we’ve known has been one big lie. The moon wasn’t Korosensei’s fault, he’s not deliberately trying to blow up the Earth — is he even a villain at this point? — and Yukimura-sensei died protecting him and asked him to be our teacher. Not to mention the whole debacle with Karma lying and faking his quirk…”

Though Izuku wasn’t surprised Nagisa brought it up, he couldn’t help but flinch alongside everyone at the sensitive topic. It seemed no one except himself (he, after all, suspected Karma was lying about his quirk since his supposed Innate Capability ‘failed’ him on the first end-of-term exams) had seen it coming, and the red-haired boy was extremely tight-lipped about it. Nagisa, however, seemed to be taking the news the hardest.

“I just don’t understand why he’d lie about it,” the blue-haired boy continued. “Like, what’s the big deal? Was he ashamed of his original quirk? I don’t see why. The way he changed the temperature of the flames, making it possible for Shinsou to walk through, seems way more useful than an intelligence quirk. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“We all have our reasons for keeping secrets,” Shinsou pointed out. “Whether our intentions are good or not is debatable, but if we’ve learned anything with this whole recent situation, it’s that you shouldn’t question someone’s reasoning without getting to know their story first.”

Izuku stared at his best friend and felt like screaming because _how can he say that when he still keeps so many secrets himself?!_

Likely sensing his fluctuating emotions, Nagisa sent him a sympathetic look before standing up. “I’m afraid I need to get going. Sugino, Okuda, Nakamura, you coming?”

With polite goodbyes, his classmates swiftly exited the room, leaving him alone with Shinsou. A long silence passed, and Izuku shifted through his racing thoughts, trying to pick which one to voice. Should he outright demand Shinsou spill, or should he ease him into it? Should they have a heart to heart before or after? Should they talk about that kiss?

“You’re a real dumbass, Jolly Green.”

Izuku’s thoughts came to a screeching halt. “W-What?!”

“Keeping something like tentacles a secret? Claiming nothing happened between you and Shiro? Do you want to die?”

“N-No, but I — hey, you’re one to talk! You haven’t told me _anything,_ always being so secretive about Principal Asano and the Reaper. Why do I have to tell my secrets but you don’t?”

“Uh, because none of my secrets are foreign weapons that grow out of my back and try to _kill_ me?”

Izuku opened his mouth to retort, but found he had nothing to say because, well, Shinsou did have a point. And judging by the smug look on the brainwasher’s face, he knew he won.

“Alright, fine, but that’s beside the point,” Izuku admitted. “The fact is that these secrets are tearing everything apart, and they need to go away. I want you — _need you_ to tell me what is going on with you. I-I care about you, Hitoshi, so, so much. You’re my best friend. When I saw what a toll the Reaper incident had on you, it’s partially what caused me to snap. If you’re hurting in any way, I need you to tell me. I can’t spend all this time worrying.”

Shinsou face went soft and he grabbed Izuku hand. “I know, Izuku. And you’re right, it’s not fair I keep so many secrets from you. In regards to the Reaper, there’s not much to tell other than, well. It really fucked me up. I couldn’t sleep — still can’t really, nightmares are a real bitch — and it was probably a month before I could stand physical contact.”

The brainwasher rolled up his sleeves, revealing a slew of bandages encasing them. Painfully slow, he unwinded the wraps and brandished his bare arms. Izuku’s eyes instantly locked on the odd circular scars on his arms. Those definitely weren’t there before the island, he recalled watching Shinsou slathering sunscreen all over himself.

“These are from him. There are fourteen of them total across my whole body — I counted. He peeled off chunks of my skin just because he could, to prove how much stronger he was than me. Though this hardly holds a candle to when he ripped out my tooth. I say this because I’m being honest with you, but in that moment, I wanted to die. I’d rather be dead than see that man parading around with my quirk, using it for his villainous desires, acting how people always expect me to. Though I think I was most scared he was going to use it on you.”

Izuku barely contained his own emotions as he squeezed his friend’s hand, wishing he had Nagisa’s quirk so he could literally send Shinsou the emotional support he clearly needed. Gently, he released his hand from Shinsou’s and lightly traced over the fresh scars. The brainwasher went stiff, but he didn’t pull away, letting Izuku inspect every single scar. There were three on his left arm and four on his right, splotching the normally clear, pale skin with harsh redness. He shudders to think on how they got there — on how the Reaper literally sliced off pieces of his best friend’s skin. How long had he been hiding them? Was he bleeding their entire rescue mission and they just really never noticed?

He almost didn’t want to press anymore, but he knew he had to.

“And...Principal Asano?”

There were few things in the world more shocking than Shinsou’s reaction. Because he didn’t tense up, or scowl, or freak out like Izuku expected — he _laughed._

“Uh…” was all he could bring himself to say as Shinsou calmed down from the apparently hilarious joke Izuku just made.

“Oh god, where do I even start with that?” he said, and then Izuku wondered if Shinsou was being hysterical and needed medical attention. “Wow, that situation is a freaking mess. A roller coaster of emotions at his finest. I’m not sure how to even put it into words.”

Izuku could only blink. “Um. Would drawing pictures help?”

Shinsou smirked, but his expression suddenly turned very serious and thoughtful. “No. But I know what will.”

The brainwasher stood up, and with his hand still clasped in Izuku’s, he pulled the green-haired boy up with him. “Grab you fancy vital cart. We’re going for a walk.”

Izuku had half a mind to obey the order before he found himself being pulled down the hospital hallway. “Wha — hey! If my mom finds out I left my hospital room, I’ll be lucky to even return to school for graduation!”

Shinsou laughed. “Don’t worry, she won’t ever find out. We’re not even going to leave the hospital.”

Shinsou led him down the winding hospital hallways with ease, not even looking lost despite how every white hallway looked the same to Izuku. It was like he had memorized the hospital floor plan or something. The brainwasher led him down to an area of the hospital that was much quieter, much less chaotic than the rest. Izuku couldn’t shake off the eerie vibe it gave off.

“Uh, Hitoshi...where are we?” he asked. The brainwasher was silent for a long time. He barely acknowledged a sympathetic looking nurse they passed that said something to Shinsou like she knew him. It wasn’t until they were in front of a door that he finally spoke.

“We’re in the hospice ward. There’s...there’s someone here I want you to meet. I think he can explain it better than I can.”

Not waiting for a response (not that Izuku had any. How do you even respond to that?), Shinsou pushed open the door and carefully pulled Izuku inside.

“Hey, Dad? I want you to meet someone,” Shinsou announced, and Izuku felt his heart jump straight into his throat. Dad? _Dad?_

_He was meeting Shinsou’s dad? Wasn’t Shinsou in foster care? What did that even mean? Wasn’t this too soon? He couldn’t meet his best friend’s dad in a hospital gown! Sure, Shinsou just met his mom, but that wasn’t intentional—_

Izuku thoughts were cut off when he spotted the purple-haired man with eyebags worse than Shinsou despite his sleeping state (wait, no, he was way too hooked up to monitors for someone that just sleeping, oh god was he in a coma?), and Izuku’s fairly certain the only reason he didn’t collapse was because he was still holding Shinsou’s hand.

“Izuku, meet my dad. Dad, this is Midoriya Izuku, he’s my best friend,” Shinsou said, like it was completely normal to talk to a comatose person, and Izuku wondered how often this happened. 

“Hitoshi...why...how does…” Izuku tried to say, but his voice failed him. It seemed Shinsou got the message.

“I didn’t know how else to explain it. I mean, how else do you tell someone that Principal Asano was once your dad’s best friend.”

Well, he did have a point with that one, that was a pretty big bomb to drop on someone without any context and — 

_“WHAT?!”_

-.-.-.-

Shinsou had to retell the story with Principal Asano four times before Izuku even began to grasp it. Fortunately, the brainwasher was patient with him and answered all of his questions, but it was probably just because he found this whole situation hilarious.

“So...he tells you all that...and then you left?”

“No, Izuku, you’re missing the best part. I got all sappy with him, assured him my dad still was his friend, and then called him Uncle Asano for shits and giggles.”

_“Hitoshi.”_

-.-.-.-

They were back in his hospital room when Izuku finally worked up the courage to ask.

“So…are we going to talk about the k-kiss or…?”

“Oh.” Shinsou was blushing bright red, and Izuku was sure he was too. “Um. I’m really sorry about it. I couldn’t think of anything else to do in the moment. I’m sorry if it was your first kiss. You can pretend it didn’t happen or claim it doesn’t count, if you want. You’re not going to hurt my feelings.”

“N-No, it’s fine! I just wanted to make sure we cleared the air, and that we could still be best friends. No more secrets, right?”

Shinsou smiled and gently nudged his best friend’s shoulder. “Right.”

There was a long pause. “So, um. How did you learn the Kiss of Death anyway?”

“Please don’t make me answer that.”

-.-.-.-

The day he was released from the hospital, Izuku had the great misfortune of running into both of his mentors back to back.

The first was Lovro. The legendary assassin _snuck into his house_ and cornered Izuku in his room while his mom was in the kitchen. Izuku was so startled and paranoid seeing a dark figure in his room that he instinctively went to scream, but found himself incapable as the oxygen in his lungs were completely ripped away.

“Calm yourself, Izuku, it is just me,” the foreign assassin said, stepping out from the shadows, and finally the oxygen returned to Izuku’s lungs. The green-haired boy gasped greedily.

“Mr. L-Lovro!” he squeaked. “What...What are you doing in my room?”

“You were avoiding me, and even after recent events, I figured you still wouldn’t be so keen as to seek me out,” Lovro explained nonchalantly, as if it made everything okay. “We have business to discuss, my pupil. I apologize for getting caught by the Reaper and cutting our training short, but now that I am back, I need to ask. Do you wish to continue it?”

Izuku paused, his mouth going dry, his braining rushing at top speeds. _Did_ he want to continue training with Lovro? While it was extremely beneficial back during the first semester and gave him the edge he needed, so much has changed over this second semester, and not just the obvious stuff like Izuku going through having an evil quirk transplant. Even without Lovro’s extra tutoring, his training level was still as on top as ever, and everything is coming to a head in these next few months, after all these could very well be the last few months of the Earth existing, and even if they do stop Korosensei, that means he needs to start focusing on his life beyond the assassination classroom, his life that will hopefully be happening at U.A., but there's no way to know that until after entrance exams, which would be in about a month, which seems so soon yet so far away—

His oxygen was suddenly ripped away from him and Izuku flailed.

“Dear child, your mumbling is unbelievably excessive. The answer is a simple yes or no,” Lovro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he let Izuku breathe again. “Hearing your little...rant, let me give some insight to my question. Do you want to continue your training as an _assassin?_ I know you came to me to learn fighting as a general, but in the end, the techniques I teach you are designed for those who become professional killers. While they will give you an edge in this...hero life you desire, their original intention will always remain. And know this — I will not hold it against you no matter your answer.”

Izuku paused, deeply considering his answer. “I...I think it’s best we discontinue them. While I owe everything I am now to the skills of assassination, you’re right. It’s time I move on to the skills that make a hero; a real, true hero. What you’ve taught me will never be forgotten, sir, and I thank you for that. But...I think it’s time I move forward with my life; assuming it won’t end come March, that is.”

Lovro smirked and ruffled Izuku’s head in an oddly affectionate fashion. “And I wish you the best with it. Always know this, Izuku; no matter what future you choose, you will always be one of my students, which means I will only ever accept the best from you.”

Izuku beamed. “Of course, sir.”

Korosensei came by later that night and at least had the decency to knock on his window. Izuku popped it open, feeling oddly anxious.

“Oh, hi, Korosensei,” he said, and even after the heart to heart and apologies, Izuku still felt like he couldn't meet his teacher’s eye, his eyes kept firmly downcast, even after he felt a soft tentacle wrap around his shoulders.

“Hello, Young Midoriya. I take it you’ve been doing well this fine break? I must admit, I’ve been awfully lonely; while last break was chock full of assassination attempts, I’ve hardly seen anyone these past weeks,” Korosensei giggled knowingly, clearly trying to lighten the mood, but the green-haired boy wasn’t quite feeling it.

Izuku couldn’t bring himself to answer his teacher, tears already forming in his eyes, and Korosensei sighed, gently lifting Izuku’s chin so they could look eye-to-eye. “Midoriya, please tell me what’s bothering you so. It’s difficult for a teacher to help their student when the student keeps their feelings constantly a secret.”

Lip quivering, Izuku blurted out. “Korosensei, before you got all your powers, back when you were the Reaper and you were q-quirkless...did you ever feel strong?”

Korosensei gave him an odd look. “My boy, when I was the Reaper, I was the deadliest man on the planet, and I thought there was no one stronger than me; no one I couldn’t kill.”

“And...And now?”

Korosensei blinked. “Now? Well...I think I can quite precisely pinpoint the differences of my strengths from them to now. As the Reaper, my greatest weapon was the most finishing one; no one can overpower death, after all, which is what made me so strong. But now, with my plethora of quirks, I don’t see much need for constant killing to finish off my opponents.”

Izuku gulped harshly; he feared as much. “Do...Do you think that means I could never be a hero?” Korosensei startled, and Izuku explained. “You told me months ago that you believed in me, and that my quirklessness is just a blank slate, and knowing you were once quirkless too, it’s just a testament to how right you might be. But if the reason why you were so strong when quirkless was because you were so great at killing...I wonder if that means I could never be like you as a hero. After all, there are no quirkless heroes, and I don’t want to kill. While the world’s greatest assassin may have been quirkless, you say it was because you were such a natural killer. There’s no guarantee that being a natural hero will help you make it in this world.”

Korosensei was frozen, his tentacles lax, and for once, he looked at a total loss for words. Izuku looked away, brushing violently at his tear-stained cheeks, and tried to shove away his shattering heart.

“Young Midoriya,” Korosensei finally said. “Just because there is no precedent for quirkless heroes yet, doesn’t mean you can’t be the first—”

“But what if it does?!” Izuku snapped, before looking away shamefully. “I-I’m sorry, it’s just...I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and while I know I’m strong as an assassin, there so many things that separate heroes and assassins, and while maybe I could make it as an underground hero, without that finishing move, without an assassin’s greatest weapon...I’ll be weaker than when I’m just quirkless.”

Korosensei withdrew his tentacles, but he didn’t look angry. Actually, he looked quite thoughtful. “As I’ve taught you before, the best assassins always have more the one weapon. But your points have got me thinking, and I’m embarrassed to admit I’m not sure if I have an answer right now. What I can say, however, is that I know how strong you are, and I know how pure your heart is. As someone who has faced nearly every major hero in the world, I can say for a certainty that few are as deserving of the title as you. I believe in you, Midoriya Izuku. And I hope one day that you and the rest of the world can too.”

-.-.-.-

On their first day back from winter break, Nagisa called everyone together for a class meeting in the woods.

“There’s something that’s been bugging me,” the blue-haired boy said. “I don’t even know if it’s possible, but I think we should try to find a way to save Korosensei’s life.”

Izuku blinked widely and exchanged a surprised look with Shinsou. “You mean, like stopping him from blowing up come March?” asked Mimura.

“How do we even do that?” Okano followed up.

The blue-haired boy clearly didn’t have an answer, but it didn’t stop multiple classmates, like Kurahashi and Kataoka, from vocally giving their support. But, as such was to be expected, not everyone was on board.

Nakamura stepped forward, arguing that their bond with Korosensei was reliant on them being his assassins, and how the only way to honor that bond was to do as the man requested of them and kill him. She was instantly backed up by Terasaka’s gang, and as they bickered back and forth, Izuku couldn’t help but wonder what his own thoughts on it were. While all he ever wanted to do was save people, would they be disrespecting Korosensei trying to do so for him?

Nagisa bit his lip. “I know what Korosensei has asked of us, but I feel like—”

“You know, I’m not sure you should be telling us how you feel, Nagisa,” Karma piped up, and suddenly the situation felt a lot more personal, a lot more dangerous. “After all, you might expose the emotions you’re forcing us all to experience, and then you won’t get what you want.”

The look on the red-haired boy’s face was positively sinister and Izuku wanted to yeet himself out of this confrontation yesterday.

“What?” Nagisa breathed as Karma began to approach.

“Here you are, one of the most dangerous assassins of us all, trying to persuade the class to no longer assassinate. I’m sure you thought this would be real easy, huh? Just add some forced enthusiasm and a dash self-consciousness, and those of us who have to work our asses off to kill will bend to your will.”

“Where is this even coming from?” Nagisa questioned. “I honestly thought it was a good idea and thought everyone would be on board—”

“And if we weren’t, that wouldn’t be an issue because we ourselves wouldn’t even know it. Say, how many people have you manipulated now that you’ve discovered your true quirk? Do you think it’s more or less than when you were doing it ‘unknowingly?’”

“I’m not trying to manipulate anyone, I’m just giving my opinion!” Nagisa shouted. “Besides, you’re one to talk! At least I didn’t know what my real quirk was — you purposely lied to everyone! Do you not trust us, Karma? Is that why you want Korosensei dead so badly, because you’re worried you might start trusting him?”

The surrounding temperature fluctuated, first turning ice cold and then unbearably hot. It would seem Karma’s quirk not only let him control temperature, but it prevented him from being affected by it seeing as he was the only one to not have any reaction.

“You wanna see my real quirk? If you want to know what it feels like, then that’s just fine with me. It shouldn’t distract from the fact that you want to dull out bloodlust, our blades, and make tea time out of all his hard work. Are you really as much of a child mentally as you are physically?”

Nagisa flinched and clenched his teeth, and a wave of anger unnaturally flowed through Izuku and likely the rest of the class. Karma’s expression turned positively deranged. 

“Oh? What was that? Go on, try again, Nagisa. Make me feel exactly how you want me to.”

The anger immediately dissipated as Nagisa backed off. “No, I—” he tried to explain, but was cut off as Karma hit his shoulder. 

“C’mon, no one’s stopping you here. If you’re really that angry, then why don’t you fight me?” He hit Nagisa again, and again. “C’mon. C’mon. C’mon! I know you want to!”

Karma grabbed onto Nagisa’s tie, and that’s when the blue-haired boy finally snapped. He flung his feet up in the air and locked Karma’s head between his ankles in a flying triangle choke. The class gasped at the sudden violence while Karma slammed Nagisa into the floor, but the hold didn’t break. 

“I’m not trying to manipulate everyone!” Nagisa cried out. “You’re the scaredy-cat who hides his own quirk from his friends! Who’s the manipulator now?”

Karma reared back his fist, and that’s when Izuku realized how out of hand this was getting. He launched at Nagisa while Shinsou released his new-and-improved capture rings to hold back Karma. Even with the bettered technology, Shinsou still struggled to keep Karma at bay while Izuku barely had to try to hold the struggling Nagisa back. He felt kinda bad. 

Just before things could escalate, Korosensei finally showed up. Instead of pacifying the issue, however, he decided to let them pick teams and duel it out in true assassination classroom fashion. Red team votes to kill, blue team votes to save. Whichever side is the last standing wins their class civil war and will determine which approach the whole class would take, and there was no arguing about it.

As his classmates began to pick sides, Izuku turned and whispered to Shinsou, “I can’t help but feel that this fight isn’t entirely about killing Korosensei or not.”

The brainwasher nodded. “While that may be what started it, for Karma and Nagisa at least, this is a battle of personal trust. I mean, it’s no secret that there’s always been an odd distance between the two despite their friendship and obvious feelings for each other, especially after you revealed Nagisa’s true quirk.”

“Karma begins to wonder if any emotion he ever felt around Nagisa is real,” commented Izuku.

“And Nagisa feels betrayed that Karma lied about his quirk all along,” Shinsou finished. 

Izuku sighed. “Can I remain neutral on this? I really don’t want to get involved in their pseudo-lovers-quarrel.”

The brainwasher barked out laughing. “Nah. I mean, when it comes down to it, this battle determines a lot. We’ve got to pick a side.” Shinsou walked up to the opposing buckets and paused. 

“I want more than anything to be a hero,” Shinsou said. “It’s my dream, but it’s only thanks to Korosensei that I think I can actually achieve it. I’d feel wrong going against his wishes after everything he’s done for me.”

He reached down and picked up a packet of red BBs and a knife, solidifying himself with the ‘kill’ side. Izuku gave him a reassuring smile before stepping forward himself.

“The reason I want to become a hero is to save people and give them hope just like All-Might,” he said. “And to give people hope, you first have to have it yourself. And that’s why I say we save him.” He picked up his own blue set of weapons. “I cling to that hope that we can do it. I owe it to him. Well, that, and that clearly my attempts at killing him don’t typically work out too well.”

The class chuckled at that. From there, it was only Karma and Nagisa left to pick a side, though their choices were clear. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Nagisa whispered to Izuku as he walked over to the blue side. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re one of the only strategists who can hold a finger to Karma.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Izuku argued. “Karma wasn’t lying when he said you’re one of the most natural assassins in the class. Something tells me this fight is going to be a lot more contingent on you than me.”

-.-.-.-

They were separated on opposite sides of the mountain. The goal was to either capture the opposing team’s flag or wipe them out entirely. Karasuma stood as referee to make sure nothing turned dirty, but in actuality, there weren’t that many rules beside don’t kill each other. Quirks were fully permitted and any strategy was allowed so long as it didn’t result in serious injuries.

Immediately after they broke into sides, Izuku pulled Nagisa over, making sure no one was within hearing range. “Nagisa. I know how we can win this.”

The blue-haired boy blinked. “What? How?”

“By bringing back some old tricks.” At the blank stare he was given, Izuku clarified. “You need to use your quirk like how you used to before it was rediagnosed.”

“H-Huh?!”

“Shhh!” Izuku hissed, glancing to make sure no one heard the shout. “Think about it. For years, you used to use your quirk to Project a forgetfulness about you, which is why it was diagnosed as Misdirection. Even with big strategists like Nakamura and Shinsou on that team, it’s obvious Karma will be calling the shots, and he’s going to be gunning to have you taken down first; to him, you’re the biggest threat. If we’re going to win this, we need to make sure you stay alive until the end, and the only way we can do that is for you to disappear until most of the enemy is taken out.”

“I can’t just abandon everyone and hide—”

“You won’t be abandoning us. In the history of war, the general always stays back, only fighting in the most desperate of moments. There’s no point in sending you out early; while you have the skill to probably take down multiple opponents at once, there will be too many enemies, too many guns aimed at your back. It’s best to let the foot troops and the frontline dwindle down the numbers so you can strike when it really matters. It’s obvious it has to be you who takes down Karma. If we go with this plan, we can guarantee it’ll happen.”

Nagisa still looked unsure, gnawing on his lip. “Are you sure this will work?”

“Right now, it’s the only strategy we got.”

“I guess...” Nagisa’s eyes scanned the surrounding area, his eyes sharp. “For my Misdirection to work when someone is actively looking for me, I’ll need to be where they’d least expect. Karasuma-sensei said he’d be standing on the high cliff acting as a referee. Referees are supposed to remain unbiased to both sides, so if I hid in his shadow…”

Izuku blinked, catching onto the genius on the plan. “...you should go virtually unnoticed the whole game. No one looks at the referee unless they need clarification. That’s brilliant, Nagisa!”

The blue-haired boy laughed self-consciously. “Let’s just hope it’ll work out in the end.”

While Nagisa slipped off to hide, Izuku was stationed to guard the flag and give strategy. The second the game started, Kataoka and Takebayashi were taken out by red team’s sharpshooters, Chiba and Hayami. Izuku cursed and pulled out his walkie-talkie. 

“Kanzaki, go ballistic!” 

The normally quiet girl had an affinity for first-person shooting games. That paired with the terrifying imagery of an army of soldiers charging at you — even if they were just holograms — was more than enough for them to get the drop on Chiba and Okajima (no doubt a wound on the red team’s part given the strength of Okajima’s practiced Snapshot and China’s amazing sharpshooting skills and eyes), evening out the score. She even took out Sugaya before she was ultimately ‘killed’ by Karma. 

The rest of the battle continued much like that. Hazama snuck up on Sugino and Fuwa by blending in with the tree shadows, putting red in the lead again, but was taken out fairly quickly by Isogai. Okano, using her Boneless agility when knife fighting, took out Kurahashi. From the sounds of it, she and Kimura were teamed up, which was a dangerous combination that needed to be dealt with swiftly.

“Hara!” Izuku called into his walkie-talkie. “Team up with Isogai to Merge a trap that you can trigger with your Goat Bite! That should be enough to take those two out.”

It worked, fortunately, but he knew that would only piss Karma off. They had to be careful. The numbers were dwindling, but that meant the most dangerous were the ones left. There still wasn’t any sign of Nakamura _or_ Shinsou, and that was more than enough to make Izuku sweat.

Okuda found Mimura’s hiding spot and took him out with Isogai’s help. The boy had been using Record to capture their locations and report back to Karma, which explained why the red team had been finding them so easily. This was quickly followed up by Hayami sniping out Hara, making the count 8 red and 6 blue. 

Izuku immediately turned his attention towards the sniper. While Chiba had better aim, what made Hayami so dangerous was her versatility thanks to her quirk. Since Equilibrium Control let her perfect her balance no matter her position, she could literally attack in any conditions.

“Midoriya, we’re sitting ducks out here!” Maehara called out. “We need to take out Hayami, but we can’t do it without confronting Itona first!”

“And we can’t go around them or else we’ll run into Terasaka’s goons and Nakamura,” added Isogai.

Izuku gritted his teeth. “Yada, do you think you can Persuade them enough to distract them?”

“No,” the girl replied. “Not only are they in laser-focused because of bloodlust, but those two are also so tsundere that not even my best honeypot tricks will faze them.”

“Alright, then we’ll just have to—”

Before he could finish speaking, a whip-like wire lashed out and yanked the walkie-talkie right out of his hand. Izuku barely flipped away fast enough to avoid the red BB aimed at his head.

“Sorry about this,” Shinsou said, appearing from the trees. “Karma’s not too happy that his strategy is being foiled, so he sent me to do his dirty work.”

He could hear his teammates asking for updates on the walkie-talkie, but it was silenced as Shinsou crushed it under his foot. “I’m not a fan of being the puppet, but I already know this isn’t really my fight. Just letting you know that it’s nothing personal when I take you down.”

Izuku smirked and brandished his blue anti-sensei knife. “Not going to happen. I want to — _need_ to save Korosensei.”

Putting away his gun and pulling out his own knife, Shinsou smiled bitterly and scratched the back of his head. “You know, it’s been a while since we’ve had one of our little morning spars. I kinda miss them, to be honest.” He got down in a defensive crouch. “So, what do you say, Jolly Green? Just like old times?”

Izuku smiled and raised his blade. “Just like old times.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karma: hOw dO YoU knOW wHaT's goOd for mE?  
> Nagisa: THAT'S MY OPINION!  
> Everyone else:
> 
> BTW to everyone who has shared with me their Karma theories: hehe.
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form, energy beam, superior senses  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability (lie) Thermostat (truth)  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog: Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back  
> Grip: Grip  
> Gastro: Metallic Taste  
> Shiro: Potential  
> Itona: Technopathy  
> Mr. Matsukata: Cancellation  
> The Reaper: Frankenstein  
> Nagisa’s Mom: Lava Fury  
> Yukimura: Weakness
> 
> In a nutshell: Midoriya tries to use his tentacles to kill Korosensei but instead they use him, Shinsou steps in to save him with a big ole’ smack on the lips, Korosensei removes the tentacles and reveals his past: that not only was he once quirkless, but he got all of his quirks because of experimentation by Shiro. Shinsou and Midoriya finally come clean to each other and meet each other’s parents, but now it’s Nagisa and Karma having trust issues, and E-class has a civil war over whether they should kill Korosensei or try to save him.


	12. To Go Above and Beyond (Ep. 40-42)

When he first saw Midoriya’s tentacles, the first thing Hitoshi felt (after getting over the initial shock) was anger.

He was angry Midoriya lied to him. Angry he kept something so dangerous a secret. Angry he wouldn’t listen to anyone but the tentacles. Angry he thought he needed the tentacles in the first place to be strong. To be a hero.

Because he didn’t need them. Midoriya Izuku was one of the strongest people he knew. Stronger than All-Might, Eraserhead, or any hero Hitoshi admired. He was stronger than the rest of the class. At times, Hitoshi even thought Midoriya was stronger than Korosensei. And it was _because_ he was quirkless that he thought this.

He believed this full-heartedly, and it only gave Hitoshi that much more thrill to fight him.

-.-.-.-

They wasted no time circling one another, sizing each other up. There wasn’t any need to. For them, this was just another drill, another daily occurrence in their assassination classroom.

Hitoshi lashed out first. His capture rings soared, wrapped around Midoriya’s wrists, and he pulled the boy to the ground. His victory was short-lived as Midoriya twisted his way around and sprung up with a flying face kick, forcing Hitoshi to release the weapon to dodge. They exchanged blows back and forth. Hitoshi threw a punch. Blocked. Midoriya sliced at his stomach. Paired. Hitoshi swiped a low kick at Midoriya’s feet, and the other jumped. Midoriya took advantage of his sudden height advantage and goes for the head, and Hitoshi pushed him back.

At this point, it wasn’t fighting for them. It was a dance they had well-memorized. 

Their knives met in the middle, holding each other off, as their other limbs tried every tactic they knew. Throat punches, elbow throws, cross jabs, spinning back kicks. Midoriya jumped in the air and tried to mount Hitoshi with a triangle hold around the neck, but the brainwasher sprawled to throw him off. Now both on the floor, Hitoshi quickly pinned Midoriya in a leg-lock, only to be knocked off by a hammerfist to the cheek. They rolled away from one another, paused to catch their breath, and resumed fighting.

Just as Hitoshi moved to use his capture rings, Midoriya faked him out by staging a front kick and then drawing his leg back quickly, while simultaneously throwing a punch. The attack made the brainwasher stumble, and it was more than enough tackle and pin Hitoshi with a clinch.

Thoroughly immobilized by the hold, Hitoshi knew he was running out of options. It was only seconds before Midoriya brought the knife down on him and got him out — meaning he’d have to face Karma’s (literally) hotheaded rath. His own knife arm was pinned to his side like the rest of his limbs, which means he only had one option.

Trying to not put too much thought into it _(why am I resorting to this weapon so much lately, goddammit),_ the brainwasher leaned up and planted yet another Kiss of Death on Midoriya’s lips.

_Curse Bitch-sensei for turning me into this, curse her, curse her, curse her!_

Midoriya’s clinch went lax, and Hitoshi wasted no time to bring up his knife and stab it at his best friend’s chest — the exact same time he felt another knife hit his.

“Huh?” he said, looking down at their matching paint-stained chests. “A tie? Really?”

“I-I wasn’t about to let you get the up on m-me a second time with that mo-move,” Midoriya stuttered, his blush harsher than Karma’s hair. Hitoshi groaned.

“Please don’t let Bitch-sensei hear about this. If she finds out I defamed her ‘unbeatable’ Kiss of Death, she’s going to suffocate me with her boobs until my skin matches my hair.”

-.-.-.-

They made it back to the ‘out’ zone just in time to see the final battle between Nagisa and Karma. It seemed the boys had opted for a hand-to-hand combat duel as well.

“Really? Taken out by the pipsqueak?” Terasaka greeted him, and Hitoshi glared.

“Like you have any room to talk. You got taken out by Nagisa before you even realized he was there,” Itona retorted, making the lion-boy bristled.

“No one asked you, Blank-Face!”

As the class watched the two remaining assassins brutally attack each other, Fuwa turned to face them. “You know, I’m kinda surprised you guys don’t also have beef, all things considered.”

“Me too,” commented Kataoka. “I mean we’re all more than happy to move past the tentacle incident, but it seems like it would just be a lot more…”

“Personal?” Sugino supplied.

“Yeah. Personal between you two.”

The duo in question glanced at each other and shrugged simultaneously. “We already had our moment and talked it out over the break. No point in dragging it out,” Hitoshi supplied.

Midoriya nodded. “I think the anger and hurt runs a lot deeper for Nagisa and Karma too. They’ve known each other since the start of middle school, so their drama has had a lot more time to bubble up.”

The students’ attention turned back to the fight. Karma brutally axe-kicked Nagisa, leaving him the ground. The red-haired boy leisurely moved to pick up his abandoned knife and slashed down. Just before the fight was over, however, Nagisa popped up and sent a vicious wave of emotions that had everyone — Karma, Korosensei, E-class — stumbling backward. Anger and fear and panic and paranoia all battled for dominance, and even though Hitoshi and the others stood on the edge of Nagisa’s range, the effect was maddening. He couldn’t even imagine what Karma was experiencing.

A freezing chill retaliated. The entire area within a 100-meter radius dropped below freezing; Karma’s counter to Nagisa’s fiery rage. Despite the well-insulated fabric of their combat uniforms, Hitoshi’s teeth still chattered. 

“Holy shit, they’re really going all out!” shouted Muramatsu.

Kurahashi cried. “They’re going to kill each other!”

Nagisa faked Karma out with a knife strike and instead opted to pin Karma down with a triangle choke, meaning the red-head only had about thirty seconds before he passed out. The temperature fluctuated again, becoming blisteringly hot as the two boys struggled.

“You’re going to hear me out!” Nagisa cried, Projecting pure desperation. Karma squirmed in the damning hold, giving himself just enough leeway to grab his knife. He poised to stab the oblivious Nagisa in the back and —

And suddenly, the heat dissipated, the knife discarded, and Karma tapped out, conceding the fight to Nagisa. 

Hitoshi couldn’t hear what Nagisa and Karma were saying to each other over blue team’s cheers, but it seemed they were finally talking it out and opening up to each other. The brainwasher sighed and placed his elbow on Midoriya’s (“Just because you’re tall enough to do that doesn’t mean you should!”) head.

About time.

-.-.-.-

In the end, Nagisa wasn’t the only one Karma owed an explanation. After Karasuma explained that they had until February to figure out a way to save Korosensei before they’d have to resume assassination, Midoriya and Hitoshi cornered the red-haired boy and demanded answers.

“Alright, spill. What’s with the fancy secret quirk?” demanded Hitoshi right off the bat. Karma’s body language instantly went on the defensive, but before the boy could deflect, Nagisa grabbed his hand and gave him a pointed look. The brainwasher eyed the linked fingers suspiciously, wondering what the duo talked about early, and if they finally got past their obvious pining for each other and confessed. He hoped so. As their friend, he was sick and tired of being stuck in the middle of their little dance.

“Fine,” Karma said, shoulders sagging. “You recall when I said I was adopted and that’s why I didn’t go by Akabane?” They nodded. “Well, it’s a shit ton more complicated than that.”

Karma released Nagisa’s hand to grab his phone and started scrolling through it. “For all intents and purposes, I’m supposed to be dead. Who I was born as wasn’t who I was allowed to be, so my adopted parents forced me to hide aspects of myself to protect the secret of my existence. They changed my hair, changed my name. When my quirk manifested, they wanted me to say I was quirkless, but I saw a better option. My adopted father’s quirk was Innate Capability, so I knew firsthand that it wasn't particularly flashy or obvious, and it could easily be faked. So, I lied about my quirk.”

“But...why? Why were you forced to lie so much?” Midoriya asked.

Karma stopped scrolling through his phone and held it up to show them a picture. “Like I said, I wasn’t supposed to exist. Only he was.”

The picture showed two newborn babies who looked like they had just been born moments before the photo. One baby had hair that was white on the right side and red on the left, and the other baby had red roots and white tips. Flashes from their trip to Musutafu came rushing back to Hitoshi.

“Is that…?” Nagisa began, and Karma nodded. 

“I was the result of a quirk marriage. When my twin and I were born, my mother deemed my older brother the child more suited to their desires, and decided she didn’t want me altogether. My adoptive mother was a nurse and found my birth mother literally trying to throw me away, crying about how they ‘only need the one, the other one is what he wants.’ When she interfered, my birth mother begged that she take me away and erase my existence — do anything to hide me so no one knew I survived, especially her husband. My adoptive mother listened, just wanting to get me away from the deranged woman. Using her connections at the hospital, they filed away the paperwork to make it seem like I was her legitimate child and destroyed all records of my birth mother having surviving twins — but not before she took this photo with her.”

“Holy shit,” whispered Hitoshi.

Karma smirked sadly. “My adoptive parents tried at first to keep my past a secret from me, but they could only do so much before I started asking questions. Even though I never did have Innate Capability, my adopted father said it was the closest thing either way. When I was seven, they finally told me everything, just like I’m now telling you.”

Hitoshi couldn’t even imagine it; being seven years old and getting told that you’re not only adopted, but your birth mother literally tried to throw you away. Did she really just see no need for Karma? How could she already tell the other child was ‘what he wants,’ so to speak, at their birth? Was she guessing? Some odd form of mother’s intuition? Why was the birth mother adamant about her husband not finding out? Was he the one pushing for the children in this quirk marriage? They were outlawed for a reason, after all. To hear and have to process all of these possibilities at such a young age...no wonder Karma is so deranged sometimes.

The red-haired boy sighed dramatically and rested his hands behind his head. “Ah, it’s an awfully tragic backstory, though I guess it fits the theme. I vote we change our group name from Rainbow Hair Crew to Traumatic Past Buddies. I mean, between Nagisa’s mother, my birth, Shinsou’s parents, and Midoriya’s bullying, we’re a whole lot of tear-jerkers. Who’s with me?”

No one laughed. “Karma…” Midoriya began. “Do you know who your birth parents are?”

The devil-boy scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I never wanted to know the name; felt it’d be better to not know the family name I was born with rather than be haunted by it. I doubt my adopted mother would even remember anymore, given how long ago it was. Well, that, and that her and my adoptive father are hardly around anymore for me to ask. Always the travelers, those two. Can’t blame them for leaving me behind, though; they never wanted kids in the first place.”

There was a long, incredibly awkward silence. “Well,” Hitoshi sighed. “I have to ask. Now that your big secret is out, are you going to start coming to school with your fancy frosted tips?”

The punch to the face was totally worth the question.

-.-.-.-

A research capsule containing vital information about the moon explosion — and therefore Korosensei — was scheduled to plunge into the Pacific Ocean in a week. They in no way had the manpower to take it once it landed on Earth, which meant they only had one option: they had to go to outer space and steal it beforehand.

“You know, I think I liked it when our class was focused on assassination, not research rescue missions,” Hitoshi declared as they went over their plans to infiltrate the Japanese Space Program Facility. “Way more simplistic and way less illegal.”

Maehara laughed. “C’mon, Shinsou. Live life on the edge!”

Convenient for their thieving needs, the Japanese Space Program was planning to launch its first ever unmanned rocket to the International Space Station in four days. E-class planned to infiltrate the rocket and sneak two people in, but the only problem was deciding who those two people would be. And naturally, with an opportunity to visit outer space, everyone wanted to volunteer.

“Um, guys? You do realize this is an experimental vessel with no successful flights yet, right?” Midoriya piped up, and instantly everyone (except Itona, who would literally die to get to touch and speak to advanced technology like that) put their hands down. 

“Hey, Korosensei, why can’t you launch into outer space and get it yourself? Can’t you fly at supersonic speeds?” Okano asked.

Korosensei blushed sheepishly. “I’m afraid not even I can reach the speeds required to exit the Earth’s atmosphere.”

“That’s right!” Midoriya declared, looking way too excited to be talking about rockets. “You have to be going at least Mach-23 to enter outer space. Hey, now that I think of it, why did we everyone believe you when you said you blew up the moon when it’s physically impossible for you to reach it? It’s kinda embarrassing on our part, if we’re being honest.”

“Geez, Midoriya, you sure know a lot about astrophysics,” Muramatsu commented, and the quirkless boy blushed. 

“Oh, well, I always liked outer space growing up so I guess I just picked up some facts that way, I really don’t know what much, I swear, just some fun trivia that otherwise would be worthless anywhere else and—”

“Alright, alright, you like astronomy, we get it,” Terasaka growled, putting an end to the mumbling.

“Well, with that, I think it’s pretty obvious who should go,” Karma drawled. “I mean, who better than Shinsou and Midoriya?”

“Yeah, no,” Hitoshi retorted immediately while Midoriya squeaked. “There’s no way I’m doing that. Why don’t you and Nagisa go, huh?”

“That won’t work,” interjected Kataoka, eyeing the red and blue haired teens. “No offense to you two, but you just came off a huge fight. Shinsou and Midoriya said they’ve already cleared up any beef, and there’s no duo in the class that works better than them.”

“Yeah, you have Midoriya the rocket scientist to make sure everything is running smoothly, and Shinsou the brainwasher to make sure we get what we want. Combine that with your awesome combat skills, and you guys are the perfect hijacking team!” cheered Fuwa.

Hitoshi was still 110% against it (he didn’t want to _die),_ but then Midoriya placed a hand on his shoulder. “It does sound like a pretty cool experience...I mean, what’s better than a trip to outer space with your best friend?”

And then he gave that smile that seemed to emit rays of sunshine and, well, no one stands a chance against that.

-.-.-.-

It was embarrassingly easy to break into the Japanese Space Center. Hitoshi knew they were skilled, but it was honestly pathetic. Yada snuck into the control room and used her Persuasion to distract the scientists, while Itona used his quirk to hack the computer’s mainframe and hook up Ritsu. With building’s system entirely in their control, Hitoshi and Midoriya easily snuck through the vents to get to the rocket undetected. When they made it to the launchpad, Korosensei was waiting for them in his (terrible) ninja disguise. 

“Everything’s good to go,” Ritsu informed them. “I’ve overlaid the footage of the dummy pilots, so those at headquarters shouldn’t know the difference when you replace them.”

“Oh goodie, it’s all working out perfectly,” Hitoshi muttered sarcastically. “I swear if this hunk of metal blows up, I’m haunting all your asses.”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi thought the launch was the most terrifying experience ever, maybe even worse than the Reaper.

Midoriya thought it was amazing and wouldn’t stop geeking out like a damn nerd. “Wow, we just passed the mesosphere and now we’re in the thermosphere, we’re actually going faster than Korosensei, can you believe it, look how beautiful it is out there, it’s so dark and immense, look at all the stars you can see without the Earth’s light pollution, have you ever seen something so — hey, Hitoshi, stop closing your eyes! You’re missing it!”

He changed his mind. He wished the damn rocket blew up.

-.-.-.-

They docked at the International Space Station and quickly got to work. A Japanese astronaut went inside their vessel to check it out and understandably freaked when he saw two kids inside.

“Hey, you’re Mizui, right?” Hitoshi greeted.

“Wha—”

_Gotcha._

He held the man captive with his mind as the other astronauts came to see what the commotion was. Holding up a knife and floating up to them (zero gravity was _whack),_ he grinned cynically. “Oh, hey there,” he greeted charismatically thanks to Bitch-sensei’s tutoring.

“Huh? Kids?”

“Why are you—”

“How did—” 

“Is that a—”

Hitoshi instantly took control of all their minds, trying not to wince at the strain it caused him. “Alright, Izuku, I’ve got them all. Time to go get that data—”

“Not so fast, kiddos.” 

A big American guy with a bald head and a beard blocked their way, and Hitoshi realized too late that he hadn’t actually brainwashed all the astronauts. This man never responded to him.

“Now, I don’t mean to go crushing your dreams, but I can’t exactly let some strange kids break into the space station,” the American continued. “Let’s talk civilly first, alright? No brainwashing.”

Hitoshi and Midoriya jolted in surprise and the man chuckled. “My quirk lets me know the quirks of others just by looking at them. I didn’t mean to ruin your surprise, but unless y’all have a good explanation for breaking into the space station, I’m not feeling too sorry about it.”

Midoriya bit his lip. “We’re sorry we came on so strong,” he began in careful English. “But we need the files you have on the Tentacle. It’s a matter of saving the world.”

The American man hummed skeptically. “And what would a couple of middle school kids need with those?”

Headache starting to form thanks to all the minds he was brainwashing, Hitoshi sighed. “Buckle up, buddy. It’s a long story.”

-.-.-.-

The astronaut took their story surprisingly well, all things considered. Granted, he was American. He’s probably used to his government doing much more shady and outrageous things.

“How about I make you a deal?” he said. “You free my buddies from your brainwashing, and I’ll give you the files myself. No tricks, no fights. From what you’ve told me, you can make much better use of these than anyone else.”

Midoriya and Hitoshi glanced at each other before reaching their silent decision. “Deal.”

It was a relief to free his brain by letting those astronauts go. He rubbed his temples vigorously.

“You okay?” Midoriya asked, switching back to Japanese. The brainwasher nodded.

“Just a little headache. I can brainwash multiple people, but it takes a lot more of a toll on me. Also, I don’t think this zero-gravity thing is helping much. It’ll go away soon, though.”

It eventually did. By the time Ritsu had downloaded a copy of the files and they were back in their capsule, it was reduced to a dull ache. That didn’t stop Midoriya shooting him concerned looks every other second.

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

Hitoshi sighed. “I’ll be a lot better once I’m Earth-bound again, but yeah, I’m fine. Never letting you talk me into something like this again.”

Midoriya laughed. “You gotta admit, though, it sure was something. To see the entire Earth from up above...I guess it just reminds you how small you really are.”

The boy did have a point. The view from the space station was positively breath-taking. The entire globe in your field of vision like it was nothing, it really did make you feel small. But even more so, it just made Hitoshi realize how much more they had to lose.

-.-.-.-

With Ritsu’s calculations and trajectory and Korosensei’s assistance, they made it back to the Earth safely, landing in the mountain’s river. The entire class was there to greet them, asking them frantically about their journey.

Hitoshi was more concerned with just kissing the precious, gravitationally pulling Earth he so greatly took for granted. 

Korosensei made sure to personally and thoroughly check both of them out for any possible injuries. As the tentacles poked and prodded his reflex joints and took his blood pressure, the brainwasher looked up at his teacher with a lazy grin.

“So, Sensei. Did we get what we needed?”

Korosensei grinned back, a tentacle wrapping around Hitoshi’s wrist to check his pulse. “Well, Ritsu will need to take some time to sort through the data, but I believe you’ve come across quite the scientific breakthrough. And not only that, but the data Ritsu collected of you and Midoriya in space will be able to push the Japanese space program forward almost fifteen years. Thank goodness for that, or else I think Karasuma would’ve killed me for letting you do this!”

“Shinsou Hitoshi. Astronaut extraordinaire,” he mocked. “Who knows. Maybe I’ll change that to my backup career if hero work doesn’t work out.”

The tentacles paused. “And why would you think that?”

Hitoshi froze. Why _would_ he think that? Entrance exams were coming up in a few weeks, and he and Midoriya were already planning their approach to them forward and backward. They trained harder than ever before, even seeking out some extra tips from Karasuma. They should be prepared; and yet...deep down inside, he can’t shake this horrible feeling that it will go terribly wrong. That even with all of his training, he still has a non-flashy quirk; that unlike everyone else, he has to rely on that outside training to pass, while others can simply use their perfect hero quirks.

“I don’t know,” he eventually admitted. “It’s just...everyone outside of 3-E has always said I have a villain’s quirk. What if U.A. thinks the same thing?”

Korosensei’s smile dropped, and Hitoshi bit his lip to hold back tears as a tentacle wrapped around his shoulder. “Young Shinsou…You shouldn’t let such falsities get to your head. After all, how can a quirk in of itself be considered evil? It is just a tool. One may argue a quirk that hurts people must be fundamentally evil, yet the guns and knives you use work the same way; however, in the hands of police officers and soldiers, they are considered to be weapons for good, weapons that protect. The same goes for quirks. There is no evil or good quirk; after all, I am the Number One Villain, yet I’m sure most would agree many of my quirks to be quite heroic: super speed, flight, invincibility.

“A quirk isn’t what makes a villain, but the harmful actions that occur at their hands. If you want to become a hero, then use your quirk as your tool, and don’t let anyone stop you. Make them see it as a power perfect for a hero. Use it to save, to protect, like good men and women use dangerous guns for.”

“I know that,” Hitoshi muttered. “Besides, you’re hardly a villain. Given you didn’t actually explode the moon and all, do you even deserve that title?”

“WHAT?!”

“I mean, that’s what got everyone to fear you, right? Strange villain takes out the entire moon, evades arrest by even the Symbol of Peace. You’ve only actually earned one of those reputations.”

“How dare you question my legitimacy? I’m the greatest villain in the world, and I’ll prove it to you! No one can top my evil ways!”

Korosensei started cackling, and Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “You’re not evil, Korosensei.”

The octopus went eerily silent, and Hitoshi explained, “I mean, what evil mastermind chooses to spend time teaching a bunch of kids to be good people? Encourages them to achieve their dreams, even if that dream is becoming a hero? Seems kind of counterintuitive, if you ask me.”

There was a long pause. “Interesting argument, especially since you know my past,” Korosensei finally said, and Hitoshi picked up on the skeptical tone. The brainwasher shrugged.

“I think it’s because I know your past that I can say you’re not the Number One Villain, Korosensei. And if you must be the best at something, I think the only thing you can claim is being the Number One Teacher,” Korosensei preened, and Hitoshi added, “But if you let that inflate your ego, I’m totally taking it back.”

“Oh, Shinsou! I didn’t know you thought so highly of me!” The octopus enveloped him in a suffocating hug. “My precious student respecting my hard work! There is no greater pride! Eep!”

Korosensei finally released him when Hitoshi attempted to swipe at the man with his anti-sensei knife. He breathed heavily, trying to take in as much oxygen as he could. Man, and he thought Bitch-sensei’s boob hugs were crushing.

“Ah, Young Shinsou. I do have one question. Something that’s been on my mind ever since a certain conversation I had with Midoriya.” The octopus’ voice was eerily serious, and Hitoshi snapped to attention. “What do you think separates a hero from an assassin?”

The brainwasher blinked. What separates a hero from an assassin? Wasn’t it obvious? Assassins were killer for hire, and heroes were saviors...for hire sometimes. Typically, at least, in this day and age, when being a hero was all about publicity and flashiness. That was another thing that separated heroes and assassins; heroes lived in the limelight, and assassins operated in the shadows. The only exception was underground heroes, which was one of the many reasons Hitoshi desired to be an underground pro.

“I think there’s a lot that makes them different, Korosensei.”

His teacher giggled. “Yes, of course. What I meant to say is, in cases where assassins like you, your classmates or other Pros are working to save the world by killing me, do you know what makes you so different from heroes? Do you know why the government has resorted to using assassins to stop me instead of Pro-Heroes like they first attempted? Why no Pro-Hero ever goes after me or tries to hunt me down?”

“...no, I guess I don’t,” Hitoshi answered truthfully.

“It’s because while heroes may have a stronger weapon, assassins always wield a second blade to cut down their enemies,” Korosensei explained. “That is the greatest difference. And as your teacher, with your entrance exams coming up, I can’t help but wonder if the blades you and Young Midoriya wield so proficiently will be enough to make up for your disadvantage in terms of raw power; will U.A. or agencies be able to overlook it to give you a chance? Which makes me wonder so deeply: Shinsou, if you or Midoriya were offered a power that would better guarantee your spot among heroes, would you take it?”

Hitoshi froze? Offered a power? Like given another quirk? A more ‘heroic’ one? A quirk like All-Might’s, or Endeavor’s, or Best Jeanist, or all those other top Pros? A quirk like the ones Hitoshi used to be so envious of, the quirks that were treated with praise, not slander, that made you friends, not bullies. Would he take it?

“If you asked me this a year ago,” Hitoshi finally said. “I probably would’ve said yes in a heartbeat. But now...now I know I don’t need it. I know how strong my quirk is, and where it falters, my training reinforces it. I know I don’t need another power to push me to greatness. But as for Midoriya, well...there’s no doubt he’s probably the best out of all of us. He works hard, and he’s rewarded because of that. But despite that, I know he thinks he’s still inadequate because he’s quirkless; that he can’t measure up to the rest of us. So while I wouldn’t take it...I don’t know about him.”

The octopus nodded thoughtfully, and Hitoshi’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking, anyway? What are you plotting?”

Korosensei jolted. “Who says I’m plotting anything?! It was a simple trivia question, my boy, and you passed with flying colors!”

“Yeah, right,” Hitoshi muttered, still suspicious. The words echoed in his mind. _Offered a power…._ Korosensei said he was quirkless too, before Shiro super juiced him with a ton of quirks. Was he planning on...no, there’s no way, especially not after the tentacle incident. But it still begged the question, the question no one ever knew the answer to:

What was Korosensei thinking? 

-.-.-.-

When February came, everyone was frantically stressing over entrance exams (him and Midoriya especially), so he was more than surprised when Karasuma pulled them into his office.

“I’m sorry to be telling you on such a short notice, but I only just got the confirmation this morning,” the agent explained. “As you know, my alma matter is U.A. High School, so when I heard your ambitions to get into their hero program, I took it upon myself to pull a few strings. Nothing too grand — I know you want to earn your way to the program — but I’ve arranged for you two to take the U.A. Recommendation Entrance Exam instead of the regular one.”

Midoriya gaped. “Isn’t it crazy hard to get approved to take that exam?”

“Normally, yes. Fortunately, the school principal and the JSDF have a very positive relationship, seeing as he’s been hired on as a consultant for an assassination plan the government has been cooking up. This means he’s one of the few people who knows about Korosensei teaching E-class, so he agreed with me when I said you two were more than fit to take the Recommendation Exam.”

Hitoshi blinked back emotion. Under his hard exterior, it was easy to forget just how much Karasuma cared about them. “Thank you, sir.”

Their P.E. teacher smirked. “I just wish I could’ve told you sooner so you’d have more time to prepare, but I think it’s safe to say that you’ve been more than prepared for anything in this classroom. I can tell you that the test will consist of written, practical, and interview, but I’m afraid that’s it. It’s up to you to prove yourself.”

The brainwasher grinned. “We won’t let you down, sir.”

-.-.-.-

The morning of the entrance exam, Hitoshi threw up twice and broke down once before his foster mother violently kicked him out the door and told him to stop being an embarrassing waste of space. Though, all things considered, his start to the day could’ve been much worse.

He met up with Midoriya at the train station, and the green-haired boy looked as much a wreck as Hitoshi felt. He wouldn’t stop mumbling to himself and fidgeting, and Hitoshi was too preoccupied with his own headspace to stop him.

“Oh, God, what am I doing? Not only am I trying to get into the hero class while quirkless, but I’m taking the Recommendation Exam where all the best of the best applicies go? Where the children of Pro-Heroes and prominent families test? What am I going to do, I’m going to humiliate myself in front of everyone—”

“Hey, stop being such a self-deprecating ball of shit, you're psyching me and yourself out,” Hitoshi hissed, effectively silencing the boy with a swift kick to the back. “Don’t you dare sell yourself short, Izuku. You’re probably the best damn fighter in E-class, which means these other testers can’t hold a candle to you. I mean, you’ve come out with an A on _both_ of the Kunugigaoka quirk exams, which means this is going to seem like a training exercise to you. Remember our promise — we’re going to become heroes, and it all starts right here.”

Midoriya looked up at him, his eyes shining with hope and determination and—

And then the little shit swiped Hitoshi’s legs out from underneath him.

“You’re right, Hitoshi, this will be a walk in the park!”

Hitoshi growled and kick-jumped off the ground, ready to kill this ray of sunshine. “You’re gonna pay for that you—”

“Um…”

Their moment was promptly interrupted by a tall young man, about their age, wearing a blue school track uniform and a buzz cut. He looked positively disturbed as he stared at the two assassins. His eyes darted between Hitoshi’s raised fist and Midoriya’s defensive stance.

“...what are you looking at?” Hitoshi said awkwardly, willing the boy to go away already. Neither he nor Midoriya moved an inch. It took a painfully long time before the stranger finally retreated, and once he did, the brainwasher landed a playful punch on his best friend’s shoulder.

“Well, that was awkward. Hope we don’t have to see him again.”

-.-.-.-

They did see the boy again, not even thirty minutes later, and this instance was even more awkward than the first. 

After getting off the train and taking a bus to the U.A. testing center, Midoriya and Hitoshi turned the corner to not only find Korosensei doubles in human disguises lined up to make a cheer archway, but also the awkward boy from earlier staring dumbstruck at the display.

“Is he trying to expose himself and us?!” Hitoshi hissed, his cheeks flaring up.

“Go! Go! Shinsou! Go! Go! Midoriya!” Korosensei kept repeating, wearing a headband that had their names on it. “Become the heroes you’re destined to be!”

“Wow, since when did U.A. have send-off ceremonies for their entrance exams?” a passerby wondered aloud, making the assassins tense.

“I guess one of the examinees has a really enthusiastic family. If that test taker is as big as his giant family, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes it,” said another.

Hitoshi went blank faced as if he was under his own quirk, while Midoriya looked like he was about to explode.

“What are you doing here, sir?!”

“I’m cheering you on, of course! This is an important day for a teacher!” the octopus said, as if it was a justifiable answer. “Oh no, look at the time! I have so many students to cheer on! Best of luck, my future heroes!”

Korosensei blasted off, and the awkward stranger (who Hitoshi was 100% convinced was also here to take the Recommendations Exam, the poor sucker) looked like he was about to have an aneurism. Hitoshi wasn’t sure if he should scream or cry, so he opted to smile.

“He’s always our teacher, first and foremost. You’ve gotta give him that.”

-.-.-.-

Before the test started, all of the examinees were lined up and given numbers to pin to their uniforms. Midoriya glanced around self-consciously.

“We kinda stick out like a sore thumb, don’t you think?”

He had a point. The examinees were instructed to come in their middle school P.E. uniforms, which meant everyone else was wearing a variety of tracksuits. For E-class, however, it was full-body combat gear.

“No kidding. You’d think we came from a military school or something.”

Midoriya laughed quietly. “Well, with Karasuma-sensei as a teacher, we kinda do.”

They took the written portion as one large group. Hitoshi and Midoriya were placed on opposite sides of the room — likely to prevent cheating — so Hitoshi was sitting between a guy with a skull-looking face that reminded him way too much of the Reaper and a pretty girl with the largest ponytail he’d ever seen.

The test packets were passed out and they were told to begin, and suddenly all of Hitoshi’s nerves felt foolish. The content was stupid easy compared to the literal beasts Kunugigaoka threw at them. He never realized how overboard his middle school went with exams until now as he zoomed through the test, almost bored. For someone ranked No. 9 in his school after taking the hardest final exams Kunugigaoka ever created, this was child’s play. He risked a quick glance at Midoriya and saw the green-haired boy was nearly done even though they were only twenty minutes into the hour.

He finished with fifteen minutes left and more confidence than he thought possible. He almost felt bad for the poor test-takers who didn’t even finish, but hey, they didn’t ever experience literal academic hell, so it was only fitting. 

“You seemed to think that was pretty easy,” the ponytail girl said, holding out her hand. “I’m Yaoyorozu Momo. It’s nice to meet you…”

“Shinsou Hitoshi,” the brainwasher supplied, shaking her hand. “And yeah, I kinda did. The school I come from is known for being one of the hardest academic prep schools in the country, so…”

“Where are you from, actually? I don’t recognize your uniform.” The girl’s gaze was sharp, intelligent, and Hitoshi had a feeling he should tread very lightly speaking with Yaoyorozu.

“I’m from Kunugigaoka,” he answered, and the girl blinked.

“They’re one of U.A.’s biggest feeder schools. If they prepare everyone as well as they seemed to do for you and your classmate, I guess I can see why.”

She gestured to Midoriya, who was slowly making his way over there, but his face looked like someone who had just seen a ghost, not aced a test. Hitoshi gnawed his lip anxiously.

“Yeah...hey, look, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, though.”

“It was nice meeting you too, Shinsou. I hope when all is said and done, we can meet again as classmates.”

The brainwasher smiled softly as he walked away. “Me too, Yaomomo.” The girl smirked at the nickname, and Hitoshi waved goodbye before whipping his head around to his best friend. “Okay, what happened? Who’s trying to kill us this time?”

“No, it’s not that…” Okay, Midoriya didn’t even smile at the joke, this was serious. “It’s just...the person sitting behind me at during the test...I think they’re…”

“Alright, Listeners, line on up, it’s time to move onto the practical!” Present Mic called out. “For this test, you’ll be randomized in groups of six. The goal is to get the best time possible on our specially designed three-kilometer footrace filled with all the obstacles and tasks to test your quirk’s strength. When we call your number, please step up to the starting line!”

Was he hearing this right? This was almost too good to be true. Out of everything they could’ve thrown at them — tournament battles, giant robots, anything — all they had to do was freerun through an obstacle race? That’s what E-class had to do every day just to get to school. Even Midoriya looked hopeful, his previous panic mostly wearing off his face. Six numbers were randomly called, and Hitoshi was pleased to hear Midoriya and him being paired in the same testing group. Put them together in a task like this, and they were going to be unstoppable.

They approached the starting line when Midoriya suddenly froze. “Hitoshi, look, it’s who I was trying to tell you about.”

The brainwasher looked where his friend was subtly pointing and blanched at what he saw. It wasn’t hard to figure out who Midoriya was referencing — the distinct half-white half-red hair could be spotted a kilometer away.

_“I wasn’t supposed to exist. Only he was.”_

Hitoshi promptly choked on his spit. “Holy _shit,_ that’s—”

“Everybody line up! The race starts when the light turns green.”

There wasn’t any time to dwindle on their little (ginormous) discovery as everyone in their group lined up to race. Just before they were signaled to start, Hitoshi glanced at Midoriya, sending one last silent message.

_It’s go time._

-.-.-.-

Not to rip on Karma, but Hitoshi could understand why this other guy was the chosen child. Half-N-Half dude was insanely powerful, immediately taking off with a blast of ice propelling him forward. A guy with some kind of wind quirk — wait, was that the awkward kid from earlier? — was close behind, and the duo took an early lead. But that wasn’t about to deter E-class assassins. Their speed naturally improved thanks to months competing with Korosensei, they held their own, comfortably holding third and fourth place with the leaders still well in view. They may not have quirks perfectly fitted to give them an edge in this kind of course, but they had heaps of more experience. 

Like Present Mic said, this footrace wasn’t your regular run. First thing out of the gate were these large cylinder pillars separated a good distance apart. Icy-Boy and Wind-Boy merely launched themselves over it, while the other two competitors had to think of creative ways to pass since it was too long a distance for normal people to jump. For assassins, though…

If breaking into the space center was easy, then this was child’s play. He and Midoriya ran full speed and launched themselves from pillar to pillar, not faltering a step and occasionally rolling to build up momentum. They left the other two competitors in the dust and ran after the leaders.

The next task was an inclined ice bridge, which made it hard to get the traction to run. Hitoshi cursed, wishing he had Kimura’s Sticky Feet. Midoriya, on the other hand, took one look at their icy ascent and then jumped on the trail of stacked ice Icy-Boy was leaving behind.

“The spikes give us something to hold to!” he called, mounting an ice spike and propelling himself forward like a frog to another spike a good distance forward.

“Yeah, and something to impale us with,” Hitoshi muttered, but followed in suit, nonetheless. 

After the bridge came an exploding castle, but the assassin duo was actually somewhat grateful for this because it was the first obstacle to slightly slow Icy-Boy and Wind-Boy down as they had to dodge the oncoming debris. Since the explosions were shooting out from the castle and not from the track, Hitoshi slid on his back, making himself a small and low target, and then rolled to safety. Midoriya, on the other hand, threw up his hood for protection and ran on the very edge of the cliffed track, giving him as much distance from the explosions as possible. 

They both finished at about the same time, and now the frontrunners were only about 50 meters ahead. Not as bad as before, but they’d need to do something big still if they want to catch up.

And that’s when they came upon the next obstacle.

It was a steep, winding mountain (or maybe a giant spike coming from the ground was a better description) with a thin wrap-around cliff path to reach the top. Icy-Boy’s trail, however, was completely blocking the path, and Hitoshi didn’t exactly want to do more ice spike jumping. 

Not that he needed to.

Almost like they were back on the assassination island, he and Midoriya instantly started their vertical ascent, free climbing their way to the top. They moved much faster than last time, with Hitoshi now much more physically fit and Midoriya not dying from poison. They jumped and climbed without any fear of falling, their minds set only on reaching the top.

Hitoshi gave one final push and flip-rolled onto the top, Midoriya close behind. They made it at the exact same time as the frontrunners, and Hitoshi could see the shock on both of their faces. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, Hitoshi sprinted to the rope bridge hanging between them and the next mountain.

Icy-Boy skipped over the bridge altogether and made his own ice bridge, and Wind-Boy followed in suit, giving them a lead again. Hitoshi gritted his teeth. _Damn it, so close._

“Hitoshi, look!” Midoriya said, pointing. “When we reach that mountain, the path has us climb down and go through the forest.”

“Yeah, so?” Hitoshi asked impatiently, not really liking the hold-up.

“Well, Present Mic never said anything about having to face _every_ obstacle head-on,” Midoriya pointed out. A grin broke out on the brainwasher’s face.

“You’re a freaking genius, Jolly Green.”

Hitoshi leaned over and broke off two particularly sharp pieces of ice, throwing one to Midoriya. They both stood on the rope bridge, firmly securing their grip on the rope and twisting their foot in it to be safe.

“On three,” Midoriya said. “One. Two. Three!”

They sliced through their respective sides of the bridge in one fluid motion with the ice knife, and the next thing Hitoshi knew, they were plummeting to the ground.

“OH SHIT!” he cried, clinging to his rope. It crossed his mind that they had no idea if the other half of the bridge would hold their weight, and he realized this could be his death.

Korosensei was going to be so pissed.

“AHHHHHHH!” Midoriya intelligibly screamed, the ground getting concerningly close, and Hitoshi closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see himself become a human pancake and—

But then the rope went taut, and now they were _swinging_ through the air like monkeys, still thoroughly screaming their heads off, partially because they were relieved, and partially because they were headed straight into the side of the other mountain.

“Lean right!” Midoriya cried, and Hitoshi didn’t think, just listened. Their combined weights rotated their swing path so they went around the mountain, not directly into it, and the assassins barely had time to celebrate before they crash-landed in a tree.

“Ughhhhhhh,” the brainwasher moaned, his brain belatedly reminding him to hold onto a branch so he didn’t fall out. “Well, that just happened.”

Midoriya let out a whimpering squeak, and Hitoshi decided he was content to not ever move again and just chill in a tree-like a cat when his best friend gasped and attacked his shoulder with hits.

“Hitoshi. Hitoshi, we’ve gotta move, we gotta run.” The battery intensified. “Hitoshi, we’re ahead of them, we’re in the lead!”

_That_ snapped Hitoshi right out of his daze. “What’s next?”

Midoriya paused, scanning the area. “It looks like this obstacle was just running through a dense, dark forest. If we continue jumping through the treeline, though, it should be easier for us to get through. Race you!”

Midoriya got another two trees before Hitoshi called out. “Uh, Jolly Green? I think it’s this way.”

“Oh. Right.”

-.-.-.-

They broke out of the forest still maintaining their lead (E-class was, after all, the best forest runners in the world at this point), but it was clear the gap was closing. It wouldn’t be long before Icy-Boy and Wind-Boy caught up. Luckily for the assassins, there wasn’t much of the race left to run. 

After the forest came a pitch-black cave filled with multiple distractions and scare obstacles. 

“You know,” the brainwasher said, not even fazed by the robot villain that just popped out. “I think Korosensei’s Matchmaking Horror Cave from hell back on the island was way worse than this.”

The cave exit was blocked by a massive waterfall that would undoubtedly knock down anyone who just tried to walk through it, and maybe even knock them off the bridge leading out entirely. 

Hitoshi instantly ripped off his jacket and tied it to his and Midoriya’s belts. “It’s less likely to knock two of us off the bridge at once,” he explained. “If we run and slide through together, we should make our mass small enough that the water pressure won’t push us around too much.” 

They did just that, coming out soaked but intact. The waterfall jets started to push Midoriya over the edge for a second, but Hitoshi quickly pulled him up as if he were using his capture rings. 

“Thanks,” the quirkless boy breathed, coughing up water. 

“Don’t mention it. Let’s go,” Hitoshi said, brushing his matted down bangs out of his face. 

The very last stretch of the race was a clear path first filled with geyser holes that shot up randomly and powerfully, followed up by a flame coal path leading all the way to the finish line. The brainwasher cursed.

“Shit. How do we get through that?” he wondered, and Midoriya looked just as much at a loss. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much time to devise a plan, as he glanced back at saw Icy-Boy and Wind-Boy racing neck and neck only about 20 meters behind and approaching scarily fast. Hitoshi broke into a sprint, planning on figuring it out when he got to the obstacles, but Midoriya held him back. 

“Wait!” the green-haired boy said, deliberately letting them get passed. 

“What the hell, Izuku?!”

Midoriya ignored him and ran straight for the spike ice trail that formed in front of them. “Help me break this off!”

Not sure where his friend was going with this but not having any other plans himself, Hitoshi ran over and together they broke a large slab of ice right off. Midoriya had them carry it all the way to the geysers, stopping right in front of one, and an uneasy feeling settled over the brainwasher as his friend placed the slab over a temporarily inactive geyser. 

“If we lay this here and angle it just like -— yeah, just like that! Hitoshi, get on!”

Hitoshi blinked, the plan dawning on him. “Oh, hell no, I’ve had more than enough brushes with death this race and—”

Midoriya, clearly not taking no for an answer, pulled him down on the slab just before the geyser went off and launched them into the sky. 

“OH MY FU-”

He clung to his best friend for dear life as they began to rocket through the air. The heat from the geyser melted away their ice board, but it didn’t matter much at this point as they rolled through the air, soaring above the geyser field and fire floor. The ground approached quickly, and they crash-landed in a tangle of limbs right in front of the finish line and right on top of their opponents. 

“Oof!” Hitoshi coughed, and at this point, he didn’t know whose limbs belonged to who. He painfully rolled away, taking who he thinks is Midoriya with him, and flopped across the finish line.

“What a finish! The duo in blue snatches first at the exact same time after crashing the party — literally!” cried Present Mic. “What an impressive feat! All four finishers are three minutes faster than the yearly average!” 

With a deep groan, Hitoshi rolled away from Midoriya and flopped on his back, staring at the ceiling and immensely grateful for his uniform’s padding. He thinks he can feel all his limbs. He’s pretty sure they’re all there and functioning. Pretty sure. 

“Wow, you guys are insane!” the buzzcut guy from earlier (apparently no longer freaked out by them) exclaimed. “I thought I was just going to steal first, but then you came flying through the sky like divebombing eagles! So cool!” 

“Uh, thanks?” Midoriya squeaked, clearly not used to this kind of attention outside of E-class. The two assassins grabbed onto each other arms and pulled to stand up at the same time. Wind-Boy grinned and turned to their other competitor.

“You’re so cool too, using your ice like that! Hey, you’re Endeavor’s son, right? I guess it’s only to be expected when you’ve got a father like—”

“Stop talking.”

Wind-Boy’s mouth snapped shut and Icy-Boy didn’t even have the decency to look at him, his steely eyes locked forward. 

“This is an exam,” Icy-Boy continued. “I’m not here to cheer you on, nor am I here to beat you. I’m just here to pass. So get out of my way.” 

Half-N-Half shoved his way past them, and Wind-Boy looked like he just got shot. 

“Wow. He’s an even bigger asshole than Karma,” Hitoshi commented. He slapped a hand on Wind-Boy’s shoulder apologetically. “Sorry we landed on you and stole first place. If it’s anything, I hope you do well on the rest of the exam.”

Wind-Boy appeared to still be in some state of shock, so there’s no telling if he heard any of that. Poor guy, maybe they accidentally gave him a concussion when they landed on him? He hoped not; the dude seemed pretty nice, and his quirk was totally badass. 

Midoriya suddenly pulled Hitoshi away, well out of anyone’s hearing range. “Did you _hear_ that?” 

“What, that the dude who is probably Karma’s long lost twin has a stick up his—”

“No!” Midoriya whisper-hissed. “Did you hear what the other guy said? You know, the part about Karma’s long-lost twin being _Endeavor’s_ son?”

Hitoshi blinked. “Oh. Oh shit.”

-.-.-.-

Hitoshi was surprised to hear him and Midoriya called into the interview room at the same time, but not nearly as surprised as when they went into the room and found a large mouse creature waiting for them.

“Oh, yes, please come in, come in,” the mouse called, gesturing to the two seats in front of him, which the assassins hesitantly sat in. “I’m Principal Nedzu, U.A.’s principal. It’s very nice to meet you both, Tadaomi has told me such great things.”

It took a painfully long time for Hitoshi to realize that Tadaomi was Karasuma’s given name. The principal plowed on anyway. “I must say, I am thoroughly impressed with your results. I took the liberty to grade your written test myself, and that combined with your time during the practical — well, you two just be some of the highest-scoring examinees ever.”

The students’ cheeked flared. “Th-Thank you, sir,” Midoriya choked out, and the mouse smiled brightly.

“And not to even mention the fact that you performed so stupendously only using assassination and not a single quirk,” Nedzu continued, grinned widely. “As one with an intelligence-based quirk myself, it was quite fascinating to watch your performance. You beat out two incredibly strong opponents simply by outwitting them. I must say, I am quite intrigued to see how the rest of your class is in terms of strength; if I go by you two, it must be quite impressive.”

Nedzu giggled. “I admit, the feats I witnessed today make me very excited for what you two could be capable of in the future, being nurtured in an academy such as U.A. But unfortunately, even that doesn’t shake the reality of the situation we’re in, my boys.”

Even though Nedzu was still grinning, the atmosphere shifted to something much tenser, and Hitoshi froze. “I want you to know that when I heard the Tentacle was teaching middle-schoolers, I was quite appalled to hear of it. To think a villain would be spending time with and molding such impressionable young minds, even if supervised, was a nightmare come true in my mind. And then, to make matters worse, I hear these same children are now being trained to kill the creature no hero could ever stop. I was mortified at the thought.

“So you see, when Tadaomi first approached me requesting you take the Recommendation Exam, I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. While the government and I have been closely observing the Tentacle, I knew nothing of the development of the students, and I had many questions. Are they bloodlusting killing machines like the government set them up to become? Trained soldiers? I simply had to know, so I gave you permission to test.”

Hitoshi felt like he was entering a nightmare as the mouse talked, and wondered when this conversation went downhill so fast. Wasn’t Nedzu just praising them a minute ago?

“Needless to say, not even I could have anticipated the results shown today. A perfect score by Midoriya on the written and just one point off by Shinsou, and a first-place tie with a near record-breaking time by the both of you in the practical. And I began to realize how grossly I miscalculated.

“Your class wasn’t made into soldiers or killers — you were made into top-notch assassins with skills and cunning most professionals in the field never achieve. You were nurtured, cared for by one of the greatest fighters U.A. as ever seen, and by the greatest villain the world has ever seen. I never once expected to find they’ve created students so _powerful.”_

Hitoshi and Midoriya tensed, and the principal laced his paws together. “I understand this is supposed to be an interview portion, but I felt it better to talk to you instead. For all intents and purposes, you’ve already scored high enough to make it into the hero course.” The two boys jolted in shock. “The question I’m stuck with now, however, is this: Do assassins have any place in the work of heroes?”

Hitoshi saw red. “That’s—”

“Please, allow me to explain myself first,” Nedzu interrupted. “I’ve been told I have a very idealist mind. Many times I’ve found myself looking at young villains and wonder to myself, if they could be taught better, could they become heroes? But I’m smart enough to see the naivety of such wistful thinking because, unfortunately, some things can never be _untaught._ And from what I’ve seen today, it’s immensely clear what you’ve learned in your assassination classroom will never go away.”

“Well, should it?” Hitoshi finally snapped, unable to take this any longer. “I mean, you’ve said it yourself. Our training has made us strong, stronger than those born gifted with immense strength. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“In normal circumstances, yes,” Nedzu said patiently, not fazed by the outburst. “The problem is who did your teaching. You are strong because the Number One Villain taught you to be, and I think I’m quite justified to be frightened of such a concept.”

“But he’s not the only one who taught us,” Midoriya argued. “Karasuma-sensei is behind most of our physical training. He went to U.A., and you said it yourself — he’s one of the best fighters U.A.’s ever had. That has to mean something.”

Nezu sighed sadly. “And yet, there is a reason why your ‘Karasuma-sensei’ never became a Pro-Hero even after getting his license and graduating top of his class. Your teacher may have had the makings of a hero in his youth, but now he is a top government agent, and that is it.”

Hitoshi sneered. “So what? You’re not going to let us into U.A. because you’re _scared_ of us?”

“I never said that was the case. Quite the opposite actually,” the mouse said, tail flicking, and it felt so weird for Hitoshi. This man looked and sounded so nice, but every word he said seemed to crush more and more of Hitoshi’s dream. “I personally would be quite intrigued to see how you’d develop in this school, and I’m more than willing to let you do so. But unfortunately, we run into a...conflict of interests, so to speak. I told you I was working with the government to find a way to kill Korosensei, which means I am well aware that you and your classmates have been trying to devise a plan to save him.”

The young teens went stiff and slack-jawed as Nedzu continued. “Now, while it may sound like a heroic and noble cause, we’re talking about the villain threatening to blow up the entire Earth — the Symbol of Terror. He must be stopped at all costs. Which is why I’m formally putting your acceptance on hold until the situation with the Tentacle is rectified. It’s not an entirely unreasonable action, given there’s a chance we will all die in a month if we fail to stop him. So until then, I am setting new terms for your acceptance, and it will all depend on how this month plays out. You and your classmates can either kill the Tentacle and save the world, ensuring your acceptance to U.A., or you can save his life. It’s your choice.”

There was a stunned silence in the room, but Hitoshi wanted to scream. Was...was he _blackmailing_ them? Why, because he was scared of them succeeding in saving Korosensei’s life? Or was it because he was more scared of them and what they were capable? Did he really have any interest in seeing them make the hero course like he claimed?

“But...why?” Midoriya asked, his voice shaking. “Why do you demand he die? If you’re really working with the government so closely, don’t you know Korosensei isn’t what anyone thought?”

Principal Nedzu sighed and actually looked sympathetic. “Whether his crimes are actually his or not, the threat he poses still remains, and I’m not only talking about the fact that he might blow up. Your ‘Korosensei’ is the Symbol of Terror, a triumph for villains, a sign of the failure by heroes in the face of society. The world does not trust heroes as much anymore, and if we ever wish to regain that trust, then the ultimate threat must be eliminated. 

“This is why I am testing you, my boys. You say you wish to be heroes, yes? If the work of heroes is to live on and prosper, then it is up to you two to ensure that. This is the only option we have,” the mouse said, standing up to lead them out the door. “Thank you for meeting with me, boys. I hope to see you in my halls next year, I really do.”

-.-.-.-

“That _fucking_ BASTARD!” Hitoshi screamed, kicking over a trash can. “I oughta skin him alive and feed him to the alleycats, I swear to god!”

The duo had remained relatively calm leaving the interview, silently waiting to be dismissed from the exam. They didn’t even say anything about it the entire walk to the train station, both still reeling from what just happened. But the moment they got to the station, Hitoshi _snapped._

“UGH, he’s worse than how Asano’s dad used to be! I’d rather go spend another night with the Reaper than see his nasty scarred face again! All smiling and acting like he cares about us, that he’s interested in our skills when all he cares about is killing Korosensei. Who does that furry think he is?!”

“The principal of U.A. High School?” Midoriya replied meekly. While Hitoshi’s emotions turned to pure rage, the quirkless boy was a moping mess. Tear tracks permanently stained his cheeks and he stared at the sky like it held all the answers. Seeing his friend look so broken just pissed Hitoshi off even more, but he knew his rage wouldn’t do any good. With a deep sigh, he collapsed on the bench next to his best friend.

“I can’t believe it,” the brainwasher muttered. “We did so well, beat everyone out using the skills we’ve been taught — the skills we chose to harness thinking it’d get us into the hero program. And now that mouse-bastard is making backhanded deals and withholding our acceptance?”

“He said we would’ve gotten in the hero course,” Midoriya replied numbly. “He said that, even with just the first two portions of the exam, we scored high enough to make the hero course. Even without a quirk, I made it...but because of him, and his grudge against Korosensei, it’ll be like nothing happened.”

Hitoshi nodded, swallowing down his emotions. “What...what are we going to do?” Midoriya gave him a blank stare, and he clarified, “About Nedzu’s deal.”

The quirkless boy sniffled. “I...I don’t know. We made a promise as a class to find a way to save Korosensei, and with the information we brought back from the moon, we actually have a way now. We can’t just turn our backs on everyone just because Nedzu wants Korosensei dead.”

Hitoshi was not prepared for his friend to suddenly burst into tears and flailed. “Why? _Why_ does he want Korosensei dead so badly? Why does he think Korosensei is evil or a bad influence to us? If he’s studied Korosensei so closely, shouldn’t he know what an amazing teacher he is? Nedzu calls himself an educator, but he wants to kill the man who saved E-class and target the students for becoming better.”

The brainwasher could only hold his best friend as he cried, tears filling up his own eyes. He harshly wiped them away, refusing to cry when he needed to remain strong, and whispered the only answer he had to console his friend.

“I don’t know, Jolly Green. I don’t know.”

-.-.-.-

News of their U.A. entrance exam debacle spread fast in E-class, putting a damper on everyone’s Valentine’s Day mood. Hitoshi would’ve felt bad, but he was still too angry. Fortunately, the feeling was mutual throughout the class.

“The whole thing is total bullshit,” Kimura said as he and Sugaya spared. The class agitation levels were so high, Karasuma scheduled a particularly long training session so they could let it all out. “I mean, the school teaches high schoolers how to fight villains, but it’s okay because it’s ‘hero’ training. Sounds like a lot of self-righteous bull if you ask me.”

“How dare he accuse Korosensei and Karasuma-sensei like that!” added Kurahashi, violently loading her gun. “Making them out like they’re corrupting us or something? Criminalizing them for making us stronger?”

“You’d think a place like U.A. would praise strength no matter where it came from,” Chiba commented before making a perfect bullseye for the tenth time in a row, despite his target only having one visible bullet hole.

“If you ask me, it sounds like U.A. is no better than Kunugigaoka, maybe even worse in some aspects,” observed Isogai as he and Maehara sparred with knives. “I mean, the entrance exam is notoriously biased toward people with flashy hero quirks. Not to mention the clear hierarchy, putting the hero course on a pedestal over the other courses offered.”

“No kidding,” Okano said, bending herself in half and throwing her knife at a target. “I mean, in the Sports Festival they make all the courses compete against each other even though the hero classes have a clear advantage; not only because of their typically better quirks, but because they get special training from heroes that the other courses don’t.”

“Sounds like a pretty shitty place if you asked me,” Karma drawled, sending a lazy blow at Nagisa’s head, which was easily blocked. “Are you sure you want to go there?”

Hitoshi snorted. “Says the guy staying at Kunugigaoka.”

(He and Midoriya told Karma about the incident with the boy with red and white hair, feeling wrong to withhold that kind of information. It went about as well as one would expect:

“Hmm. You said he could create ice with his right side? The one with the white hair?” Karma asked, and they nodded. “Wouldn’t be surprised if that means he can use fire on his left. A powerful quirk, exactly what a quirk marriage like mine was supposed to create. Guess he really was the chosen one.”

The red-haired boy laughed bitterly, and Hitoshi almost didn’t want to say the next part, but did so anyway. 

“We also overheard who his father — your birth father — is…” he said and paused to see if Karma would stop him. He didn’t. “It’s Endeavor. The Flame Hero.”

Karma blinked, and Hitoshi’s pretty sure this was one of the few times he saw the boy look surprised. That surprise, however, was quickly replaced by a deranged bitterness.

“Endeavor, huh?”)

“Have you guys decided yet? You know, about what you’re going to do about Nedzu’s deal?” Nagisa asked, and the entire class paused in their training, wanting to hear the answer. Hitoshi exchanged a look with Midoriya and nodded.

“We’re not going to go back on our deal to save Korosensei,” Midoriya declared. “We made a promise as a class, and we’re going to keep that, no matter the cost.”

Hitoshi nodded. “Yeah, and if U.A. is really going to punish us for sparing someone’s life — especially someone as important to us as Korosensei — then we don’t belong anywhere near there. We’ll become heroes another way.”

The class grinned, looking extremely relieved. Nakamura bumped their elbows playfully. “U.A. doesn’t deserve you in the first place.” The class echoed this sentiment ferociously, and Hitoshi’s heart soared.

Screw what that mouse principal had to say. They were going to save Korosensei, and they were going to save the world. 

They were going to be heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify a few things: Todoroki's mom is not bad or evil, she's just mentally unwell because Endeavor is trash, so what she did is just her misguided way of protecting at least one child. I tried to make that pretty clear, but it's hard because Karma doesn't know that. He just thinks he was given up because he was weaker than his twin.
> 
> Also, Nedzu is going to play an odd role. He's not going to be an antagonist so to speak, but he will provide challenges for our boys. He's basically just foreshadowing a major problem in the sequel. Not many people are going to be comfortable around the legacy of the greatest villain in the world of heroes.
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability (lie) Thermostat (truth)  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog: Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back  
> Grip: Grip  
> Gastro: Metallic Taste  
> Shiro: Potential Percentage  
> Itona: Technopathy  
> Mr. Matsukata: Cancellation  
> The Reaper: Frankenstein  
> Yukimura: Weakness
> 
> In a nutshell: Midoriya and Shinsou duke it out, Karma and Nagisa come to an understanding and the civil war ends in favor of the blue team, meaning they’ll now try to save Korosensei. Karma’s reveals he has an evil twin (not really, more like a sad twin. We all know Karma’s the evil one). E-class proves they’d really go to outer space and back to save Korosensei, and Hitoshi and Korosensei have a moment. Karasuma gets our hero duo in the U.A. Recommendation Exam, where the duo kicks ass and takes names...all the way until Nedzu interferes, forcing them to choose between a future at U.A. or a future with Korosensei.


	13. To Prepare for the End (Ep. 43-45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys really aren't ready for the end. I'm not even ready for it, and I wrote it.

Save for Izuku and Shinsou (whose applications were still pending because of Nedzu), everyone else in E-class was accepted into the first or second school of their choice. But despite the accomplishment, it was clear everyone was too upset to enjoy it.

“Oh, please, don’t let our stuff bring you down. You guys have earned the chance to celebrate,” Shinsou remarked as they sat in class. “Not doing so because of us only lets the mouse bastard one-up us again.”

The class laughed, the tension in the room vanquished, but no one was quite ready to pop streamers. Korosensei (who had been awfully quiet on his thoughts regarding the U.A. entrance exam debacle) was quick to change the focus and up the mood. 

“Like Shinsou said, let’s not waste another second on such depressing thoughts! We have a yearbook to edit, people!” he declared. Piles upon piles of photos instantly appeared on his desk. “Since Karasuma had to stand in for me on the official yearbook, I thought we’d make our own special E-class book to commemorate our time together! Now we just have to decide which of the thirty-thousand teacher selfies featuring beautiful candid moments of my students that we use.”

“You really crashed every picture?” Izuku wondered aloud, which Korosensei replied with an indignant “Crashed? I was merely capturing every aspect of the moment!”

“It would be kinda nice though,” Hara noted. “I mean, we’re never gonna get another chance at a class like this. I wouldn’t mind having something special to remember it by.”

“Exactly! Now, should I use this adorable photo of stone-faced Hayami at the pet shelter, or this one of Mimura going ham on air guitar—”

“You were there for that?!”

“Oh, and not to mention this picture of Shinsou falling on his face the first time Irina made him walk in heels!”

“What?!” the brainwasher squawked as Korosensei continued to pull out embarrassing photos of them. Shinsou lashed out with his capture rings. “You better hand that over so I can burn it, Octopus!”

The whole class went full riot mode, attacking Korosensei’s desk to find and destroy any embarrassing pictures of themselves. Izuku found a picture of Shinsou’s Kiss of Death during their civil war duel and screeched, tearing it to shreds. 

“Alright, alright, but what about these photos for the student events section?!” Korosensei, passing out a new round of photos. These ones were actually nice to look at, picturing the class hanging at the beach, or watching the festival fireworks show, or parading around Musutafu.

“Aw, we were such babies back then,” Nagisa said, pulling out a picture of Izuku geeking out over an All-Might statue, as well as one of them all sitting together at lunch, Nagisa and Izuku comparing quirk notes while Shinsou and Karma looked at something on Shinsou's phone.

“It’s hard to remember how simple things were back then,” Izuku added, smiling. “I mean, you didn’t even know what your real quirk was when some of these were taken. It’s nice to see how much we’ve grown.”

Despite literally having thousands of pictures, Korosensei simply wasn’t satisfied and declared they all had to take cosplay photos outside. Which is how Izuku found himself in a surprisingly well made All-Might cosplay, with Shinsou as Eraserhead, Ms. Jelavić as Mt. Lady, Karasuma as Cementoss (“You have matching square heads!”), Muramatsu as Hound Dog, Kimura as Ingenium, Karma as Endeavor (Izuku and Shinsou visibly cringed, even if Karma wasn’t showing much emotion), and Korosensei as Wash (“I support his clean agenda!”)

“You know, given that Korosensei’s deadline is only eight days away, things have been pretty chill lately,” Izuku observed, smiling for the picture in his best All-Might pose.

“I think it’s better explained that he’s spoiling you, letting you guys take it easy to show how proud he is of you,” Karasuma explained, looking positively unamused by the cosplay. “Given how intense everything’s been, it’s about time you kids got a chance to unwind. Especially you two,” he shot a look between Izuku and Shinsou, “I’m extremely sorry for what happened with Nedzu. I wish I could do more about it, but I just want you to know how proud I am of you. I heard how well you performed on the exam. I know more than ever that if ever come on hard times, you guys will be the ones I call.”

The duo grinned. “Thanks, Karasuma-sensei.”

-.-.-.-

That night, they had their final career counseling session with Korosensei. Izuku tried not to focus on the nightmare that was his last one, refusing to think on the whispers of the tentacles as he made his way into his teacher’s office.

“I’m happy I get to speak with you, Midoriya. I know I’ve been staying quiet on the matter, but it would seem there are some very important developments you and I need to speak about.”

Izuku hid a grimace. He expected such coming here, but he’d still rather avoid it. “Yeah, I guess.”

Korosensei was still smiling, but it was clear in his body language how serious he was being. “I’m going to admit, when I heard what Nedzu told you, I was furious. As your teacher, it is unfathomable that someone would make such deals at the expense of a student. But unfortunately, I can’t do anything to change his mind, which means we need to discuss your options.”

The octopus gently placed a tentacle on his shoulder. “I know what you told your classmates, and I’m very proud of you for that. Integrity is one of the greatest virtues in life, and it is the sign of a great hero. But at the end of the day, I know how much you two have on your plate. I know how much you and Shinsou have dreamed of making it to U.A., and as your teacher, it’s been my goal to help you achieve that dream. And to hear I may be the reason you don’t, breaks my heart more than you can ever imagine.”

Izuku could already feel the tears threatening to spill and squeezed his eyes shut, holding back a whimper. Korosensei lightly brushed back his hair. 

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I would much rather you kill me and meet Nedzu’s terms than give up on your dream. I understand you don’t want to,” Korosensei added quickly before Izuku could object, “but I want you to know, that if it comes down to it, I am more than willing to die for you — for any of my students. So please, keep that in mind.”

Izuku nodded even though he didn’t want to and clenched his fists in Korosensei’s uniform, letting the fabric muffle his sobs.

-.-.-.-

When Izuku saw a giant red beam strike down on the E-class mountain from the safety of his home, he felt like his world was ending. 

He immediately lunged for his phone, but found it was already ringing. Shinsou was calling him.

“Hel—”

“Did you just see that?” the brainwasher demanded. 

“Y-Yeah. They just — They just shot a high beam laser at our school! At Korosensei!”

“Look, now they’re creating some particle barrier dome around the mountain top! Do you think that means he’s alive?”

“Only one way to find out,” Izuku said, throwing on his shoes and slipping out the door without a word to his mother. “We have to go make sure he’s okay!”

He hung up and ran out of his apartment building, only to find the roads blockaded with military-grade vehicles and tanks. A red-winged figure flew over his head, straight for the mountain — Pro-Hero Hawks? — and that’s when Izuku realized what this was. This was the plan Nedzu and the government was working on. This was their endgame strategy.

Shinsou texted him a link to some news feed, and Izuku quickly clicked on it. It was a live stream of a governmental press conference.

“Our initial attack failed, but thanks to the SHIELD of Earth, we were able to capture and contain the dangerous villain popularly known as the Tentacle. This creature is responsible for the moon’s destruction just last year and has made credible threats to do the same to Earth in a week. The JSDF and every available Pro-Hero has been called in to contain the area until the laser is recharged for another attack,” the media liaison explained. 

“Sir, our sources say you’ve contained the Tentacle where a school building is located. Can you explain why the Number One Villain was at such a location?” one reporter asked.

The media liaison paused, an agent stepping up to whisper something, before responding, “As you know, the Tentacle turned himself in after the moon explosion but refused to cooperate and made continuous threats against the safety of mankind. As an attempt to contain him and eliminate him early on, we allowed him to pose as a school teacher for a Kunugigaoka Junior High class. We hoped cornering him there would give us a chance to take him out beforehand, but we grossly underestimated his strength. We won’t make that mistake again.”

“Excuse me, you’re saying you allowed this creature to be around middle schoolers? To _teach_ them?!” squawked another reporter.

“The operation was closely monitored by our best agents and the children’s safety ensured. The students were well aware of who their teacher was, and they actively played a hand in eliminating the threat—”

It was clear the media liaison said too much, but it was too late. The press exploded. 

“You encouraged children to participate in killing the Tentacle?”

“Are you saying that you provided the means and weapons for them to do this? It’s no secret the Tentacle is unharmed by conventional attacks.”

“How long have these children been exposed to this kind of environment? Would you say they are dangerous too?”

Izuku gulped. He had to get to Korosensei _now._

-.-.-.-

It would seem he and Shinsou weren’t alone in their plans. By the time Izuku made it to the government barricade at the base of the mountain, most of the class was already there.

“Nagisa!” he called out. “Have you seen the news? This is absolute insanity!”

The blue-haired boy nodded. “No joke. They’re refusing to let us go up the mountain, and everyone in the city is freaking out.”

Shinsou held up his phone. “Every news outlet in the country is talking about this. Everyone’s losing their heads knowing that not only did the government hide the fact that the Tentacle was going to blow up the Earth, but that they let him be around children and forced them to become government assassins. Now everyone wants to know who these poor victim children are.”

As if he summoned them, camera lights started flashing in mass as a crowd of reporters came out of nowhere, screaming questions.

“Are you the poor children held hostage by the government and the Tentacle?”

“Did the government train you to kill?”

“How well-versed are you and your classmates at using weapons?”

“Did you ever fear for your safety? Were you being threatened by the government to keep this a secret?”

“Were any Pro-Heroes involved in this setup?”

“Were you ever hurt by the Tentacle? Would he retaliate if you tried to kill him?”

“Is it true you were just normal children the government forced to become assassin soldiers because of convenience?”

Muramatsu growled and snapped his muzzle. “That’s enough! Back up!”

Yada’s eyes gleamed freely as she tried to Persuade the crowd. “Please, give us some space, we don’t want to answer any of your questions!” 

It worked for a few reporters, but there were simply too many of them. They were being swallowed whole in a sea of cameras and microphones. Izuku was so blinded by the lights that he lost sight of his class entirely.

A woman shoved a microphone right up to his mouth. “Did you feel unsafe during your time at school? Did you ever try to escape, or did you willfully endure the training?”

“Y-You’re the one making me feel unsafe,” he answered. “Please, just go away!”

It was clear the reporter was not pleased with the answer and plowed on. “Sources have been saying that the government even granted you licenses to use your quirk in public freely. Is that true?”

“You wanna find out?” Shinsou said, stepping in front of Izuku protectively. Seeing him as the first cooperative one, the reporters swarmed him like bees to a hive, responding to him in masses.

“Turn off your cameras and leave us all alone,” Shinsou ordered, his voice clearly strained. Izuku recalled how the brainwasher got a headache controlling all the astronauts at the space station and instinctively held onto him in case he passed out.

To their relief, the brainwashed reporters left, and those that didn’t respond were so confused they simply followed. 

“I’m sorry you had to endure that.”

The class jumped and spun around. “Karasuma-sensei!”

Kurahashi surged forward. “Please, Karasuma-sensei, tell us what’s going on! Everyone is talking about us like they pity us, and no one will tell us what happened to Korosensei.”

The man sighed. “I’ll explain more later, but first I need you to come with me. I’ve been ordered to take you all into protective custody.”

-.-.-.-

They were taken to a tent at the heart of the military base set up. They passed multiple Pro-Heroes on their way there, from Gang Orca to Fat Gum, but Izuku couldn’t even bring himself to get excited. His mind was plagued with thoughts of Korosensei, wondering if he was okay, if he needed help.

“I’m sorry this happened, but the government was impatient,” Karasuma explained once they were all inside. “He survived the initial attack, but there’s no way for him to get through the particle barrier. They called in the heroes as a precaution in case this goes south, though their presence is mainly a political move to help instill trust in heroes again. The current plan is to wait a week for the laser to recharge and take him out that way.”

“So what, you’re taking away _our_ assassination? After everything we’ve done?” snapped Maehara.

“Your efforts will not go unnoticed, rest assured, but it’s time to leave this to the pros.”

“Unnoticed? Unnoticed?” spat Shinsou. “The entire world is staring at us like circus freaks, and it’ll all be for nothing!”

“This isn’t fair, you should’ve warned us!” cried Hara.

Kanzaki nodded. “The media is making us out to be poor manipulated children, hurt by the government and Korosensei.”

“This isn’t right, you know Korosensei doesn’t want to be killed by anyone but us!” Izuku added.

Nagisa balled his fists. “Sir, you’ve gotta let us in there!”

“It’s too late. The mountain has been fortified, the Pros called in. Your work here is done,” Karasuma answered robotically. A wave of anger and hatred rippled through the air as Nagisa growled.

“No, it’s not! There’s still so much we can do for him, ways for us to save him, and you know that! So if you aren’t going to help us, then get out of our—”

The anger changed to shock as Karasuma lashed out and pinned Nagisa to the floor.

“You know I can’t do that, not with national security on the line! What’s done is done. So listen, all of you,” he glared at each of them, but it lingered on Izuku and Shinsou. “Do not give me a hard time.”

The agent released Nagisa and marched off, pausing in front of a soldier. “Call in the rescue heroes and have them escort the students out to a secure area.”

The man left, and Izuku turned to Shinsou. “Did you hear…?”

“About giving him a hard time? Clear as day,” the brainwasher replied, looking contemplative.

“Uh, wanna clue the rest of us in on your cryptic speak?” Mimura asked.

“Earlier, Karasuma-sensei said that if he ever fell on hard times, we’d be the first he’d call. I think it’s his way of telling us that he wants us, expects us to handle things,” Izuku explained. 

Nagisa nodded thoughtfully. “We need to devise a plan. We still haven’t reached our goal. It’s what Korosensei would want us to do.”

“Well, according to Karasuma-sensei, we’ve got a week,” stated Shinsou. “So, Data Duo. You two up for one last ride?”

-.-.-.-

It spoke words that Izuku was escorted back home by Pro-Hero Ragdoll and didn’t even blink. The exuberant hero kept trying to make conversation with the group of students she was charged with, but no one really even acknowledged her. Under normal circumstances, Izuku would’ve felt bad, but, well…

When he arrived home, his mother was in hysterics. “There you are! Do you know how worried I’ve been? I get home from work to not only find you gone, but to see all the news channels talking about your school and your class!”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Izuku tried, but it fell on deaf ears. 

“Is what they’re saying true? Did they really train you to be their soldiers? How could you keep something like this a secret? My poor baby, forced to be pawns to make up for the government’s inadequacies. To think you spent a whole year with that monster—”

“He’s not a monster!” Izuku snapped but instantly regretted it. His mother jerked back, eyes wide like she was _afraid_ of him. Afraid of what he might do.

_Did she really think I’d attack her?_

The thought broke what was left of Izuku’s spirit and he tried not to cry, forcibly turning his back to her. “I’m going to my room.”

She didn’t say another word, so when Izuku opened his bedroom door, he was greeted by silence and All-Might’s smiling face, looking down at him, telling him everything would be alright. That things would work out. That there was still hope.

Izuku tore down the poster and went to bed, sleeping fitfully the whole night.

-.-.-.-

It was a restless week for all of E-class. They weren’t allowed anywhere near the mountain, so while they secretly plotted their big move, all they could do was sit around. They couldn’t go to school, couldn’t really leave the house without being mobbed. They texted in the class group chat to stay posted, but that was about it.

On the second day, Izuku snuck out of the house (disguised with a baseball cap and sunglasses) to meet up with Shinsou at the park and was appalled to find his best friend standing there with a stuffed backpack and a small suitcase.

“What is that?” he demanded.

The brainwasher shrugged. “My foster parents really like to read biased news reports. They thought I was going to suddenly kill them in their sleep — like I haven’t had these skills for a year — so they kicked me out.”

“Do you need somewhere to go? You can come stay at my place, my mom is so busy avoiding me I doubt she’d notice and—”

“Nah, I’m good, I have a place to go. In theory, at least, this whole debacle has kind of turned everything to shit, I might need you to help me out with that later. But that’s beside the point,” the brainwasher collapsed on a park bench. “Have you read the news lately?”

Izuku shook his head. “My mom has had the TV turned on 24/7, but I try to ignore it. What they’re saying, especially about Korosensei, it’s just so wrong and…”

Shinsou snorted. “Well, it’s gotten a lot worse. Look.” He passed his phone over, the list of articles and headlines pulled up. “At least it’s safe to say they don’t pity us anymore.”

That was the understatement of the year. Izuku tried to stomach his breakfast as he scrolled down the list.

**Government Confirms Tentacle’s Students Trained to Fight, Kill**

**Politicians Demand JSDF Release the Identities of the 3-E Students, Claiming it a Matter of Public Safety**

**Students Turned Assassins, Country in Outrage**

**Citizens Fear Safety, Threat of Teenage Assassins Looms Over the Nation**

**Monsters In the Making: Peers, Witnesses Come Forward, Revealing Just How Sinister the Student Assassins Are**

The last one was particularly intriguing. Izuku clicked on the link and it pulled up a playback of a news segment.

“The world is still reeling after the shocking revelation that the government allowed Number One Villain the Tentacle to teach a group of middle schoolers in hopes they could train those very students to kill their teacher,” a female news anchor said. “It’s been revealed that the students are members of Kunugigaoka Junior High’s Class 3-E, and though no official roster has been released yet, reports of the class and the students within have been popping up like wildfire. Our reporters have been working day and night to find and gather was many legitimate reports as possible. Let’s see what they have to say.”

The screen changed, pulling up a guy Izuku recognized from 3-D. “Look, 3-E has always been filled with weirdos — there’s a reason they’re up on that mountain. But ever since the start of the year, they’ve changed. Started performing the best in sports events, even stole most of the Top 50 spots on our last finals. That kinda thing doesn’t happen naturally, so hearing they’re being taught by a supervillain is no surprise to me.”

“Were there any instances where you felt unsafe around these students?” the reporter asked.

“Hell, there’s so many. This one guy with blue hair attacked one of my buddies in the courtyard, left him scared shitless for days. To this day, he thinks the little blue freak is gonna jump out and kill him or something. And don’t even get me started on the purple guy — you know, the one who brainwashed all those reporters? — he’s a real freak. The class went on this big vacation and he came back in a sling. Everyone was spreading rumors that it was because of a gunshot wound, but I didn’t believe it at the time. Now…”

The clip continued showing various people — some people Izuku recognized, some people he didn’t. He skipped through most of it, part of him paranoid he’d find Bakugou in it (even though he knew logically that Bakugou wouldn’t spend two seconds with reporters). He stopped skipping when he saw who the last ‘witness’ was.

“Is...Is that the wind quirk guy from the entrance exam?” Izuku breathed, and Shinsou jolted, growling.

“You’ve got to be shitting me…”

“Young man, are you saying that two of these students took the U.A. Recommendations Entrance Exam?” the reporter asked, and the guy (Yoarashi Inasa, according to the screen) nodded.

“No doubt about it. They were from Kunugigaoka, and they showed up in these military-style uniforms with an ‘E’ imprinted on the collar. They breezed through the exam like it was nothing, even coming in first together on the practical without _once_ using a quirk. I thought they were just cool, but now that I really know how they learned those skills…” Yoarashi shuddered. “Let’s just say, there’s a reason I’ve decided not to go to U.A. If guys like _that_ are there, I don’t want to be anywhere near it.”

Izuku couldn’t take it anymore. He turned off the phone before he lashed out and threw it on the ground. His palms were shaking when Shinsou grabbed his hand.

“This is worse than Nedzu,” Izuku whimpered. “They...they think we’re monsters. Killers. Like he said, even if we do get into U.A., no one’s gonna want to go anywhere near us because they think we’ll kill them.”

“Well, they’re stupid if they think that. We don’t need to be anywhere near them to kill them.”

Izuku didn’t even hesitate to slam his elbow into the brainwasher’s side hard _. “That is not the point.”_

“Ouch — alright, alright, spare me, Oh Pointy One,” he said, still snickering, and Izuku jerked to hit him again. “No, please, I’ll stop, I’ll stop. Besides, you’re worrying for no reason. Give it a month and this whole thing will blow over and the world will forget about it.”

“How can they forget about it? Even if the JSDF doesn’t release our names, our faces have already been plastered all across the world! Yours especially after the reporters attacked us! Half these articles bring up _you_ directly in their list of reasons why we’re a danger to society.”

The brainwasher turned grim. “Yeah, I’m a real easy target to be made into a bad guy.”

“That’s not what I…” Izuku sighed, his eyes falling to the ground. “How are we supposed to become heroes when the entire world sees us as assassins?”

Shinsou snorted. “Easy. We save all their asses when we stop Korosensei from exploding and prove them all wrong.”

-.-.-.-

When Shinsou said he had another place to stay, the _last_ place Izuku expected him to mean was Principal Asano’s house. Yet here they were, banging on the door of the Machevailan man’s home.

“Why am I here again?” Izuku squeaked, wanting to be anywhere but. Shinsou shrugged sheepishly.

“Emotional support?” he tried. “Also backup in case this whole thing goes to shit.”

“How do you even know where Principal Asano lives in the first place—”

He was cut off by the door swinging open, revealing the younger Asano on the other side. The boy blinked very slowly, like he wasn’t quite processing what he was seeing, before he lunged forward and grabbed Shinsou by the ears.

“AH — get off me, Asano, don’t touch me!’

Izuku realized this must’ve been what Shinsou meant by it ‘going to shit’ and quickly moved in to pull Asano off his best friend, only to get his face grabbed by the principal’s son. 

“Hey!” he cried, instinctively kicking Asano away. The boy stumbled, positively fuming. 

“You idiots,” Asano hissed, and Izuku wasn’t exactly sure what he was referring to. Who knows what kind of info Asano just pulled out of their heads.

“Are you kidding me, Asano? I’ve been real nice to never brainwash you, but looks like that’s about to change you piece of—”

“Well, I’m not the one hiding a secret the size of the Number One Villain,” Asano snapped before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just, get inside before the reporters come running.”

Izuku absolutely didn’t want to step one foot in that house, but he didn’t have much of a choice as Shinsou dragged him inside. Asano promptly closed and locked the door behind them.

“Now, the reason I ‘attacked’ you is because you have _a lot_ of explaining to do that simply wasn’t going to be done in a timely fashion. So, this was just my way of skipping over your inevitable interrogation sessions. You’re welcome,” Asano said, though Izuku was far from grateful, trying to shake off the violated feeling in his mind. Asano’s eyes trailed to Shinsou’s bags and his face went unreadable. “I see you’re actually taking my father up on his offer. That’s a turn of events.”

Shinsou shrugged. “Well, I’m kinda homeless now, and all things considered, there are way worse places to stay right now.”

“True,” Asano admitted, crossing his arms. “My father isn’t home, and probably won’t be for a while. He’s been battling the media sharks since this whole thing came to light, trying to defend why he allowed a villain to teach at his campus. Needless to say, things aren’t going too well for him; not that he cares. I think he finds the whole situation amusing.”

Asano waved his hands, and a maid stepped forward, taking Shinsou’s bags. “Hamasaki-san will show you to the spare bedroom. Try not to break anything.”

The principal’s son walked off as if he held the weight of the world on his shoulders (which was awfully ironic given who he was talking to). Shinsou rolled his eyes. “Yeah, no promises, Assano.”

-.-.-.-

Throughout the week, they took the time to develop their plan. Mimura and Kimura went out for recon, scouting the mountain while Kurahashi and Yada (the least ‘threatening’ ones of them all) went out to scope the town. Izuku was put in charge of finding out every Pro-Hero put on assignment on the mountain. Thanks to the recon team’s intel, they determined the heroes were defending the mountain while the military defended the ground base, so it was a matter of knowing who they were up against to gain the upper hand. With the help of a drone Itona created, Ritsu was able to map out every possible entry point and determine the best ones, securing their infiltration routes. Okuda and Takebayashi worked together to create a safe but powerful tranquilizer than could possibly take down even All-Might — not that they needed to. Oddly enough, according to Izuku’s sources, the Number One Hero was nowhere to be seen. 

“According to a statement put out by All-Might’s agency, the current Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace will not be apart of the large hero effort to contain and eliminate the dangerous Tentacle due to the week length of the mission, saying All-Might couldn’t be gone that long for personal reasons,” a news anchor explained. “Superfans have taken to social media to express their disappointment that they won’t get a final battle between the Number One Hero and the Number One Villain.”

Finally, after waiting out the week, they were thoroughly ready to strike. Izuku suited up in his E-class mission uniform, snuck out of his apartment, and began jumping from roof to roof, cloaked in the darkness of the night. He met up with his classmates partway through the run, and they took off together. They had approximately three hours until their deadline. At that time, either Korosensei would be dead (killed by them or by the government) or the whole world possibly would be.

-.-.-.-

Getting passed the military line was the easy part, and the moment they stepped foot on that mountain — _their_ home territory — no one else stood a chance. They moved like a flock of birds ready to take down their prey. They knew exactly which heroes would be patrolling the mountain, and Karma (who Isogai had given power to) was already calling the shots to take them out.

The first hero out of the gate was Edgeshot, who was known to be able to manipulate his limbs faster than the speed of sound, also known as Mach 1 — twenty times slower than Korosensei. Okano snuck up on him and contorted her body into a flip while slicing her tranquilizer-laced knife before the supersonic hero could even react. One down.

“What was that?” someone called — it was Pixie-Bob. “Report, I believe someone has infiltrated the mountain! Report!”

The Pro-Hero created a giant creature out of the Earth, knocking a portion of the class back, but before her ground monsters could do any real damage, Pixie-Bob was sniped down by Chiba with a tranquilizer dart to the neck. Her monster went down with her.

“Nicely done. Let’s break up into groups to take out your assigned hero and then rendezvous at the building in ten minutes,” Karma ordered, and the class nodded.

Izuku took off with Shinsou. Their job was to scope ahead in case there were any surprise heroes they didn’t plan for. They passed Ms. Joke being taken down by Itona on their way; the Pro-Hero likely tried to use Outburst on him, not knowing it was practically impossible to get a semblance of a reaction out of the boy. 

Hayami and Chiba went head-to-head in a shootout with Gunhead and Snipe before the Pro-Heroes were eventually overwhelmed by Okajima sneaking up behind to Snapshot freeze the gunfire and take them down with a quick slash of his knife. Kataoka took out Selkie, who was guarding the river, using her increased speed and powerful tale to get the jump on the Sea Rescue Hero.

“I’m so sorry, sir. I promise I’m a big fan,” the female class representative apologized. “Maybe after this is over I can get your autograph?”

Kimura raced through the forest with Ingenium hot on his tail. While the Turbo Hero was undoubtedly faster, Kimura’s Sticky Feet was much better suited for the terrain, plus the boy knew the forest like the back of his hand. He led the Pro-Hero right into a trap set up by Hara, the same one the Goat-Bite girl set to catch Kimura during the E-class civil war. 

“Gets them every time,” Hara commented. 

“Wait!” Ingenium cried. “You’re just a bunch of kids?”

Kimura laughed. “I think the popular terms right now are ‘Teenage Assassins’ and ‘Dangers to Society’ but kids works too.” Hara smiled and gently placed the tranquilizer in an exposed part of Ingenium’s armor. 

“Izuku,” Shinsou hissed, pulling them into the treeline. “Best Jeanist, up ahead.”

The quirkless boy cursed and touched the comm in his ear. “Guys, we’ve got a problem. Best Jeanist is here. If he spots any of us, he can attack us using the very clothes on our body. What are we going to do?”

“We can have Terasaka and Muramatsu attack him in the nude. They’re basically animals anyway,” Nakamura suggested, eliciting growls from both boys in question.

“Yeah, no one wants to see that,” Hazama stated. “Leave this to me, kiddos.”

That was surprising. Hazama was one of the worst fighters in E-class and was even lazier than Karma when it came to mission assignments. Izuku was entirely terrified to see what the shadow girl had in mind. Was she planning on sneaking up on him through the shadows and taking him out in a blitz attack or—

“OH MY GOD, my eyes!” Izuku squeaked, and Shinsou had to cover his own mouth to keep from screaming in horror.

Hazama came out of the treeline completely naked. Granted, the Shadow quirk girl was literally a walking shadow with zero definable features, but this was just so, _so wrong._ The girl at least normally wore thin, all black clothing as a courtesy to their sanity.

“I’d rather see Bitch-sensei naked again than see that,” Shinsou cried and Izuku had half a mind to whisper back, _“Again?”_

Best Jeanist seemed just as shocked as they were to see the nude shadow girl approaching, the Pro-Hero instinctively averting his eyes. “What the—”

That’s when Hazama went full demon mode, flailing her limbs and hissing as she charged the Fiber Hero. The man jerked back and started to use the fibers in his own costume to protect himself but wasn’t fast enough. The shadow girl took the opportunity to shoot a tranquilizer at Best Jeanist’s exposed hand, and within seconds the Number Four Hero was down.

“I can’t believe that actually work,” Izuku said, mildly surprised, but then flushed again when he saw Hazama celebrating triumphantly. “Hazama, _please_ put your clothes back on.”

-.-.-.-

While their class was busy taking down the majority of Japan’s hero community, Izuku and Shinsou ran ahead to finally meet their assigned target. Just as they expected, the man was standing guard at the top of the trail leading to the E-class building, stoically posed in front of the particle barrier like he was waiting for them. The white scarf around his neck rustled in the wind.

Eraserhead. A secretive underground hero Izuku had barely even heard of, but Shinsou apparently knew and idolized. An elite combatant with the ability to erase people’s quirks, he was a challenging foe; at least for anyone but the E-class assassins, who were thoroughly trained to fight with and without quirks.

Moving with silent gestures, they attacked as planned. Shinsou lashed out with his capture rings on one side to get the man’s attention while Izuku fired a tranquilizer from the other.

They should’ve known it wouldn’t be so easy.

Eraserhead blocked Shinsou’s rings with a swipe of his forearm while using his capture scarf to knock away the tranquilizer. 

“You know, you could at least try to fight me as equals instead of attacking from the shadows like cowards,” the hero drawled. Exchanging a quick glance, the two students stepped from the treeline. The Pro-Hero pursed his lips.

“I know you,” Eraserhead noted, looking at Izuku. “I remember you from that dumb test I had to grade. You actually listened to me and outsmarted the system. Guess I now understand how.”

Izuku didn’t respond and simply raised his fists, and Shinsou did the same. The Pro-Hero sighed. “Looks like we’re gonna have to do this the hard way, huh? Children always have to be so difficul-”

Shinsou sent a flying kick for Eraserhead’s face, which the man blocked and grabbed onto the brainwasher’s leg, flipping him to the ground. Izuku jumped, attempting to mount the distracted hero around the neck, only to be elbow-jabbed away. It was enough to free Shinsou, though, who somersaulted away and slammed his fists into his idol’s back.

Eraserhead hissed and lashed out with his capture scarf. Izuku, who was more than acquainted with attacks like this by now, easily blocked and kicked the white fabric back while Shinsou tuck-and-rolled away, whipping out his own capture rings, this time aiming for Eraserhead’s feet. He succeeded in wrapping it around one ankle and pulled, forcing the hero’s legs out from under him. The Eraser Hero landed on his back and Izuku tried to pin him, but instead received a hard kick to the stomach before Eraserhead flipped to his feet and kicked the capture rings away.

“You kids are good, I’ll give you that,” the hero said. “Pretty damn good...unfortunately, I don’t have time to play spar anymore.”

His hair floated upward, which according to Shinsou meant he’d activated his quirk, and lashed out lightning quick, punching Izuku in the face before spin-kicking Shinsou in the side. Both students went down in a heap, and Izuku only last-minute rolled away from the capture scarf. Shinsou wasn’t so lucky.

“Look, you’re fighting a pointless battle and only making things harder for yourself,” Eraserhead said, holding Shinsou captive. “At the end of the day, we’re all gunning for the same goal: kill the Tentacle. It doesn’t matter who does it, so you kids coming up here only proves how childish you’re being.”

Izuku gritted his teeth and threw a punch, which Eraserhead dodged. “We’re not being childish!” he cried, punching again and this time landing it with a satisfying _crunch._ “We’re keeping a promise! He’s our target, and we’re the ones who are supposed to kill him! It’s what he wants, it’s how it’s supposed to be!”

The yellow goggles stared him down harshly. “This fight is above you now. You kids should’ve never been involved in the first place, and now—”

_CRACK!_

The instant-kill stun clap echoed through the air, and the Pro-Hero, unsuspecting of the attack, reared back unguarded. Izuku grabbed his arm and judo flip the man over his back and onto the ground. Eraserhead coughed and groaned, slowly pulling himself to his knees.

“How — I erased your quirk. What was that?” the hero spat, and Izuku realized why he did so well on the first quirk exam; the man really had no idea. 

“I don’t need a quirk to take down a strong opponent,” he declared. “I am Midoriya Izuku, quirkless, and I am going to be the one who kills Korosensei.”

Before the hero could respond, Izuku finished the hero off with an axe-kick that would make Karma proud, knocking Eraserhead unconscious. Shinsou, now freed from the capture weapon, made quick work of tying the scarf around the user, sufficiently binding him before injecting him with a tranquilizer to be safe.

“You just axe kicked my idol,” Shinsou stated, sounding numb. “Oh my god, I tried to kick my idol in the face. I punched him in the back! I just cosplayed as him last week, what have I done?!”

Izuku couldn’t help but giggle at his friend’s mental distress as the rest of their class descended on them. “Nice job, tying him up with his own weapon!” Mimura cheered. “Looks like you guys had a hell of a fight.”

The quirkless boy laughed, wiping some blood away from his nose. “Eraserhead sure is a tough opponent. I take it all of your targets have been subdued?”

“Oh, dude, you should’ve seen it!” exclaimed Sugaya. “Present Mic tried to use his voice quirk on us, but Terasaka stepped up all manly like ‘No one hurts my pride’ and used his lion roar to _cancel out_ Present Mic’s voice! It was insanity!”

The lion boy in questioned blushed ferociously and tried to hide it in his mane. “I was just doing my job! Don’t go making it sound all sappy or some shit.”

“At least it wasn’t as bad as Karma,” Nagisa stated, sweatdropping just at the thought. “He tracked down Endeavor, tied the hero up and stuffed wasabi up the man’s nose. Since his temperature quirk prevents him from feeling the effects of heat or getting burned, Endeavor was basically powerless. It was total overkill.”

Izuku and Shinsou, being the only ones who knew of Karma’s true heritage, understood the reasoning for excessive brutality, and couldn’t help but shiver and shrink away from the devil-boy. Karma shrugged innocently.

“What? You’d think the Flame Hero could better withstand the heat, but he was crying like a baby.”

-.-.-.-

With all the hero threats neutralized, they were able to walk right through the particle barrier without issue. It was designed to only hurt people like Korosensei, so for them, it was like it wasn’t even there. The octopus stood there, clearly waiting for them, and the class broke out into a sprint to meet him. Relief flooded through Izuku. After a week of uncertainty, being able to see their teacher and know he was okay felt like a weight taken off their shoulders.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time for a happy reunion. 

“The laser is almost charged up,” Kataoka noted, looking up at the sky. The octopus nodded.

“With that thing at full power, not even my Absolute Defense Form will stand a chance.”

“Well, we have to do something, right? You can take us as hostages, help you escape,” Kurahashi offered, but their teacher shook his head.

“I’m afraid not. Too many people are aware of this situation. Even if I don’t explode, there’s no way they’ll let me leave this place alive. They know not even Tartarus can hold me, and I’m too dangerous in their eyes to be allowed to roam free. So long as I’m alive, I’m a threat to the very foundation their heroes stand on. If they want people to start believing in their Symbol of Peace again, the Symbol of Terror needs to disappear.”

“You’re saying there’s nothing we could’ve done?” Fuwa asked. “We could’ve stopped the government’s plan, argued your case to the public—”

“You all know by now you’d only get resistance. The world has already labeled you as dangerous because of the government’s oversight and failure to protect you from the media’s attacks. Doing anymore would only lead to people demanding you be locked up or worse. This was simply out of all of our hands.”

“You can’t mean everything we’ve done to save you was for nothing!” Yada asked, and Korosensei grinned, placing a tentacle on her head.

“Nothing you’ve done this year was for nothing, especially that. You not only went to outer space and gathered vital information, but it gave our class hope in our last month together. The hard work you’ve accumulated is what made it possible for you to bypass the greatest heroes in the world just to see me one last time. As your teacher, that makes me incredibly proud.”

“We can’t just give up!” Terasaka growled. “We know the risk of you blowing up is less than 1%, and society is already terrified of us! What does it matter if we go against them once more, huh?!”

Korosensei smiled. “Allow me to give you a word of advice, given the recent media publications. Society functions as a current, trying to force everyone in a certain direction. Going directly against it will only make your life much harder. If society is determined to cast you aside like driftwood, you find another way. You prove to them that you are not any more dangerous or powerful than the ones who defend them in the streets. The skills I taught you over this year weren’t simply so you could kill me, but so you could protect and save everyone around you, including the whole world.”

Shinsou scoffed, but his smile said otherwise. “Really? A lesson, now of all times?”

Korosensei giggled. “I can never pass up an opportunity to teach you kids. But really, your efforts tonight have truly touched my heart. I have to admit, I’ve been holding back tears.” He reached out, placing a tentacle on each of their heads, patting them softly. 

“Well, that was a mood dampener,” Nakamura said, reaching into a bag on her belt and pulling out a bright pink cake. “Mind if bring it back up? It’s been exactly one year since the moon exploded, which means this is the day Yukimura-sensei declared your birthday.”

Izuku grinned brightly, the pain in his heart momentarily forgotten as Korosensei fawned and drooled over the cake. They sang their teacher the Happy Birthday song, and a sad part of Izuku wondered if this was going to be the first and last time someone ever sang that song for Korosensei. Their teacher inhaled, about to blow out the candle and—

_BAM!_

A large, dark tentacle lashed out, smashing the cake to bits.

“Oh no, are we crashing the party?” Shiro mocked, stepping from the treeline, once again accompanied by the dark, wiggly figure. “We’re terribly sorry.”

The dark figure pulled down the zipper on his face, revealing to beady yellow eyes and hissed, “Hello, children.”

That voice. Izuku knew that voice, but where?

His question was answered when Shinsou stumbled back into him, shaking like a leaf. _“Reaper.”_

“Ooh, very good. Yes, you two are especially acquainted, I believe,” Shiro drawled as the Reaper stepped forward, his wiggly form erupting into a massive tentacle beast, the size of a two-story building. The only thing reminiscent of the human was the red hollow face that plagued Shinsou’s nightmares.

“Yes, this is the new and improved version of your Korosensei,” Shiro said, admiring the horrifying beast. “You see, my contractor decided he wanted something bigger, stronger, faster for the beast he paid me so much money to learn to create. So I came up with the perfect solution. Replace that irritating super intelligence your teacher so proudly flaunts with immeasurable power, and you have the perfect soldier. I call it: Nomu.” 

The beast launched in the air, landing on the E-class building, and everyone shrunk back in fear.

“He underwent the same process as your Korosensei, and unlike Itona and Izuku, he begged for it, willingly accepting every change, not fighting in any way. Truly, I have perfected the secret to creating a superbeing of quirks,” Shiro flaunted.

Izuku gritted his teeth. Just seeing the man-made his shoulder blades sting and his mind fog with imaginary whispers. The phantom feeling of the tentacles caressed his cheek and he winced. 

The Reaper jumped down at Korosensei, and a sonic boom knocked the entire class to the ground. Shiro laughed. “The Reaper’s tentacles can reach speeds of Mach-40, and he is more than suited for battles of strength, unlike your teacher. Also unlike Version One, they were designed for prolonged battle usage. Oh, and his expiration date does not come with an explosion. In short, he is superior in every way possible.”

Korosensei and the Reaper became a flurry of unidentifiable blurs, with their teacher grunting and groaning as he attempted to dodge the onslaught of attacks. It was obvious Korosensei was at a vast disadvantage to a beast like this.

“With my research and my contractor’s support by providing me quirks, these super beasts will be the key to maintaining order in the world. Gone will be the days of heroes like All-Might — he couldn’t even stop your Korosensei, much less my Version Two.”

“Why are you always trying to hurt and use people to get what you want?” Izuku snapped. “Stop enslaving others for your mad plan. Do your own dirty work for once!”

Shiro smirked. “Oh, Izuku. You’re more foolish than I thought if you think I won’t.”

The man pulled out a familiar syringe gun and Izuku instinctively jolted back. However, instead of attacking him like last time, Shiro plunged the needle into his own neck and injected himself with anti-matter. The effect was instantaneous; strange vein-like marks spidered all over his body and his muscles grew grotesquely.

“Oh no,” Okuda said. “He completely changed his chemical makeup. His entire body is just muscle fibers and nerves!”

“More like an empty temple where God-like powers can thrive!” Shiro said, moving at superspeed to where the Reaper and Korosensei were battling. 

“What the!” Korosensei cried before being slammed into the ground. The class gasped as their teacher rose slowly, weakly, so unlike himself and looked at them. “Listen class. I have one last lesson for you: for an assassin, no matter how clever or how long they avoid it, the fight will always come where they must put every last ounce of strength to the test. For me, and for you, that would be _now.”_

The Reaper roared, and the two super creatures launched at each other with supersonic speed, moving so fast they were invisible to the normal human eye. The sonic booms made it near impossible to stand, much less do anything to interfere. Shiro lashed out, rocketing sharp objects at their teacher as he mocked Korosensei.

“Chiba! Can you see anything?” Nagisa asked. The boy paused in shielding his face and brushed his hair to the side, allowing him to get the full use of his quirk without censoring it down. His eyes glowed a deep red.

“Korosensei’s getting his ass handed to him!” the normally stoic boy responded. “The Reaper totally has him outmatched, not to mention Shiro’s interference!”

There was a particularly loud boom as the Reaper picked Korosensei up and slammed him into the ground, near embedding their teacher in the Earth. Dirt and debris flew as the Reaper ruthlessly attacked their teacher. Izuku tried to pull up his gun but ultimately dropped it, feeling more useless than ever before. They were powerless in this situation. They were no match for a multi-quirked being like Korosensei, much less the monster the Reaper was made into. Nothing they’ve learned would help them. They couldn’t save Korosensei. They failed him.

“Wait!” Chiba suddenly shouted. “He’s...he’s dodging them!”

Izuku looked back at the blurred fight and could almost make out the yellow form of his teacher. For once, it didn’t look like he was being beaten to the ground, and hope flourished in his chest. Shiro growled and tried to attack Korosensei head-on, but the man was easily beaten aside, Korosensei not missing a beat.

“Korosensei is using evasive maneuvers to preserve energy while throwing dirt to block the Reaper’s vision,” Ritsu explained. “He’s analyzing his opponent and adjusting his weaknesses mid-battle.”

“That was Shiro’s big mistake,” Shinsou realized. “He said he replaced the super-intelligence quirk for more brute strength and speed, but he completely disregarded how advantageous intelligence is. At the end of the day, if you can outsmart your enemy, you can beat him. It’s why, when we all believed Karma just had an intelligence quirk, we still revered him as the most dangerous in the class.”

Izuku nodded. “The world of heroes has led to outward strength being put on a pedestal, making people forget that at the end of the day, intelligence is always the most deadly.”

“Which is exactly why I pride myself as an educator!” Korosensei declared, materializing in front of them, causing a standoff against the Reaper and Shiro. “That’s why I want you to leave, Yanagisawa. You have no right to turn a place of learning into a war zone.”

Shiro scoffed. “For an ‘intelligently superior’ creature, you’re quite blind to the obvious.” Shiro snapped his fingers, and suddenly the Reaper was behind the students, looming over them threateningly. “Well, what do you say Korosensei? Are you going to protect yourself or your precious school children?”

The Reaper began glowing red, and Korosensei just barely interfered with the impending explosion, causing him to be severely injured. Izuku cried out in horror as Shiro laughed and ordered the beast to attack again. Every time, Korosensei took the blow, growing weaker and weaker in his attempt to keep them safe. 

“Sorry to break it to you children, but your coming here only further guaranteed the percent likelihood of my success. I honestly should thank you,” Shiro mocked. 

Izuku gritted his teeth. All along they’ve known it; they’ve known Shiro had no qualms going through them to satisfy his bloodlust. The man said so himself. It’s why he targeted Izuku in the first place, trying to turn him into a toy. He exploited the bond Korosensei had with him.

“Don’t you see it, Guinea Pig? These brats are your greatest weakness!”

He was right. Shiro was absolutely right. They were Korosensei’s greatest weakness. And Izuku was so tired of being weak.

“That is preposterous, Yanagisawa! It must be the lack of one eye, because that’s the only way to explain how blind you are to the truth. These children sacrificed everything, fought the greatest of opponents to be here with me all with their determination and infallible spirit! They are the greatest gift I could’ve asked for. My students aren’t my greatest weakness: they are my greatest strength!” Korosensei began to pry away the Reaper’s hold on him. “Call it what you will, but when it comes down to it, I will give my life to protect them!”

And that’s when it hit Izuku — that he would do the exact same for Korosensei. 

He picked up and fired his gun at the Reaper without warning, drawing the attention to himself. 

“Izuku, you idiot, don’t!” Shinsou cried, trying to stop him, but Izuku jumped away, firing another shot.

“Midoriya...what are you doing?!” Korosensei asked.

“I’m saving you, sir!” he responded. “I can never call myself a hero if I just standby and do nothing!”

The Reaper’s tentacle lashed out, and he barely dodged it. Shiro arched an eyebrow. “I see. Even with the tentacles excised, your kinetic vision remains. How very fascinating.”

“Midoriya, stop this at once!” Korosensei cried, but Izuku shook his head.

“You’re the first teacher to ever believe in me even though I was quirkless. You’re the only person who truly knows how I feel. I owe this to you.”

The Reaper appeared in front of him, and Shiro gave him the order to attack. Izuku pulled out his knife and jumped out of the way from the first tentacle with a flip. He managed a quick slice on the second one, making the Reaper roar and attack with another headed straight for Izuku’s heart. Already mid-air, there was no way to dodge. He could only watch in horror as it got closer, closer—

Something wrapped around his wrist and pulled him to the ground, safe from the attack. Shinsou’s capture rings. The brainwasher was absolutely fuming.

“Idiot, are you trying to get yourself killed?” he spat. The Reaper loomed in front of them both of them, seemingly laughing. He licked his teeth as he stared at Shinsou.

“Recognize me, huh? Good,” the brainwasher hissed, pulling out his own gun. “I was worried Shiro fried your brain when he made you into this big ugly monster. I want you to remember my name when I finally kill you.”

Shinsou lashed out with the capture ring with one hand while firing the gun a few moments later, holding a tentacle steady to hit it. It worked, blowing it right off the beast. The Reaper roared in response and lashed out with multiple tentacles, and Shinsou barely got out of the way, seemingly safe. But then in almost slow-motion — likely because of this kinetic vision Shiro mentioned — Izuku watched a tentacle sneak up from behind, his best friend’s back oblivious to the threat. 

Izuku didn’t think, just moved. “No!” he cried, pushing Shinsou out of harm's way. He didn’t even have a second to celebrate, though.

The tentacle pierced cleanly through his chest, and Midoriya Izuku gasped his last breath.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to scream at me in the comments :)
> 
> Also the mountain raid scene was so much fun to write. I had to restrain myself or else it probably would've been 3000 words longer lol
> 
> List of Known Quirks:  
> Sugino: Energizing  
> Okano: Boneless  
> Isogai: Merging  
> Shinsou: Brainwashing  
> Izuku: Quirkless  
> Irina Jelavić: Honeypot Trap  
> Hazama: Shadow  
> Yoshida: Machine  
> Muramatsu: Coyote  
> Terasaka: Lion  
> Korosensei: speed, invulnerability, molting, tentacles, camouflage, ultimate defense form, energy beam, superior senses  
> Seo: Brick Wall  
> Okuda: Chemical Breakdown  
> Koyama: Snake Hair  
> Asano Jr: Omniscience Touch  
> Kimura: Sticky Feet  
> Okajima: Snapshot  
> Karma: Innate Capability (lie) Thermostat (truth)  
> Kurahashi: Animal Mimicry  
> Nagisa: Misdirection (past) Empathy Projection (now)  
> Kanzaki: Gamer Zone  
> Maehara: Thought Blocking  
> Lovro: Anti-Oxygen  
> Mimura: Record  
> Asano Sr: Omniscience Sight  
> Takaoka: Strength Absorption  
> Kataoka: Mermaid  
> Nakamura: Omni-linguism  
> Sugaya: Ink Animation  
> Yada: Persuasion  
> Hara: Goat Bite  
> Takebayashi: Statistic  
> Fuwa: History Trace  
> Chiba: Eye of Detail  
> Hayami: Equilibrium Control  
> Smog: Poison  
> Karasuma: Kick-Back  
> Grip: Grip  
> Gastro: Metallic Taste  
> Shiro: Potential Percentage  
> Itona: Technopathy  
> Mr. Matsukata: Cancellation  
> The Reaper: Frankenstein (past) tentacle beast powers (now)  
> Yukimura: Weakness
> 
> In a nutshell: E-class reminiscence on their time together, the government grows impatient, the secret of their class is revealed to the world and everyone fears the E-class student assassins. Refusing to let someone else kill Korosensei, the class sneaks into the mountain where he’s being held, beat the hell out of a ton of Pro-Heroes, and make it to their teacher. Shiro crashes the party, revealing the new and improved anti-matter beast in the form of the Reaper, Korosensei struggles to keep up so Izuku tries to be the hero, but pays the ultimate price for it when trying to save his best friend.


	14. To Try and Save Him (Ep. 46-47)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUPER SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT AND EXPLANATIONS AT THE END, PLEASE READ THEM. LOVE. ENJOY. THE END IS HERE.
> 
> also i cried writing the first half of this chapter, just saying

When his best friend’s body exploded in a sea of red, Shinsou Hitoshi didn’t even scream. 

His hands moved on their own accord, using the capture rings to catch the body before it hit the floor and pulled him into his lap. Blood stained Midoriya all the way up to his hair, a softball-sized hole replaced the center of his chest, and his eyes stared at the sky, utterly lifeless.

That’s when Hitoshi screamed. 

“IZUKU!”

_ No, no, no, this can’t be real, this can’t be happening. I can’t lose Izuku, I can’t, he’s all I have left. Everyone I’ve ever cared for is dead or near it, Korosensei’s going to die, I can’t lose my best friend, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t— _

He cradled Midoriya’s head in his lap, too scared to touch the rest of his bloody body. He could literally see the ground through friend’s chest, everything stained red. Or maybe Hitoshi was seeing red. Maybe both. Probably...both.

Korosensei crawled over to them despite how wounded he was. Hitoshi looked up at his teacher, his eyes brimming with tears.

“Korosensei, sir, you have to — you need to — he’s —”

His voice cracked and he broke down in sobs, placing his forehead against Midoriya’s bloodied one, and that’s when Korosensei snapped.

Hot red light ebbed off him like flames as their teacher roared in fury. The ground started to tremble at the sheer power he was emitting. 

“Alas, your true colors on display!” Shiro cackled, and Hitoshi felt like the same hot rage was coming off his own skin. “Show them, show them what a truly destructive beast you are! You good as killed that pathetic boy, teaching him that he could be strong while being quirkless. You were arrogant, thinking one could be great without a quirk; thinking you were something amazing when you were the quirkless Reaper. Before you became my guinea pig, you were nothing!”

The class looked on in horror. The waves of anger coming of Nagisa were near-visible, piercing their already infuriated hearts. The frost on the ground surrounding Karma indicated the boy was using the full extent of his quirk, the cold air freezing the dew; whether it was to counteract the heat of Korosensei’s red light or was done subconsciously, Hitoshi didn’t know. 

Shiro reached out and injected the Reaper with something, making the beast emit his own purple waves of light. The powers of the two superbeasts were oppressive, to the point where it was hard to breathe. Hitoshi carefully scooped his best friend’s body in his arms and stood, his legs quaking.

“We need to get out of here!” he shouted at his class. “If we stay here any longer, it’s only a matter of time before Shiro or the Reaper kill us all!”

The class seemed hesitant to leave their teacher, but fortunately, Karma had his back. “Retreating to fight another day is a perfectly honorable battle plan. Let’s go!”

The class took off for the treeline in a desperate attempt to escape Korosensei’s raging fury and the Reaper’s roaring hatred. Nagisa came up to Hitoshi and gently closed Midoriya’s eyes, and the brainwasher felt like screaming all over again.

This couldn’t be happening. Midoriya  _ couldn’t  _ be dead. He couldn’t, not now, not so young, not before they finished what they started. Why did he push Hitoshi out of the way knowing full well he’d get hit instead? How could he throw everything away? For him? They were supposed to go to U.A. together, become heroes, save the world, first by stopping Korosensei and then by protecting one civilian at a time. They were supposed to take down villains together, not be taken down by one.

Midoriya was supposed to be the best of them all.

Hitoshi gently placed a kiss on his best friend’s forehead. “I’m so sorry...Jolly Green.”

-.-.-.-

They watched from afar as Korosensei and the Reaper went head to head, red clashing with purple. Hitoshi only felt more fury watching the monster of his nightmares and the murderer of his best friend be engulfed in such a familiar color. The Reaper went out to strike Korosensei, and then suddenly everything around their teacher became overwhelmingly...white.

And then it was yellow. And red again. And green. And blue. And purple. And then, once again, that all-encompassing  _ white.  _ Pure white energy, all harnessed in his tentacles. The energy exploded, knocking Shiro into the particle barrier and vaporizing him while it dissipated the Reaper’s tentacles. Korosensei launched forward wielding an anti-sensei knife — the same one Midoriya had been holding — and stabbed the Reaper, his original pupil, through the heart. The monster roared and vanished in a flash of light.

And just like that, it was over. But no one was celebrating. 

They gathered around Hitoshi and Midoriya, now finally given an opportunity to grieve. A funeral-like mood settled in on everyone, and Nagisa didn’t even need to Project it. Terasaka hid his tears in his mane. Sugino fell to his knees. Kurahashi sobbed into Yada’s chest. The brainwasher blinked away tears, telling himself to be strong. Midoriya would want him to be strong. 

“Shinsou,” Korosensei said, capturing everyone’s attention. “You kept Midoriya’s body from ever hitting the ground, yes?”

Hitoshi blinked at the odd question, sniffling. “Uh, yeah, but sir—”

“Good,” Korosensei interrupted. “I would prefer his cells remain as uncontaminated as possible.”

Thin white strips, similar to tentacles appeared holding a strange red sphere. “I’ve made many mistakes, but I’ve learned from them. You can’t change the past, but you can always use it to better yourself moving forward.”

Okuda gasped, her eyes flashing between Midoriya and the sphere. “Is that…?”

“Yes. I gathered as much of Midoriya’s blood and cells the moment the Reaper struck him and stored them in a sterile membrane for safekeeping while I was battling. I set a few tentacles aside to protect you, but I was foolish to think that alone would be enough, and I’m sorry. But I promise to fix it.”

He gently took Midoriya’s body out of Hitoshi’s grasp and the little white tentacles got to work, repairing Midoriya’s wound cell by cell. “I swore to myself after Aguri that I would teach my tentacles to heal. There are still some gaps in Midoriya’s DNA, cells I wasn’t able to recover, but quite frankly, that may work in my favor.”

At their confused looks, the octopus sighed. “After Midoriya’s bout with the tentacles, I made a promise to myself that before I died, I would leave him with a parting gift, from one once quirkless man to another. A tool to only strengthen his skill set for becoming the world’s greatest hero: my speed.”

Flashes of their conversation a month earlier, after they got back from outer space, came rushing back to Hitoshi. Korosensei has asked him what he would do if he was offered a great power. The brainwasher has brushed off any possible implications of the statement, thinking them to be outrageous at the time. But now...

“What?” Takebayashi asked. “You can do that?”

Korosensei nodded. “While my form is a byproduct of anti-matter buildup from the increase of quirks, it’s possible for me to isolate just one of my quirks and pass it on through the exchanging of DNA on a cellular level, giving Midoriya a normal level of anti-matter within him and therefore a quirk. The fact that his body has already been exposed to anti-matter with the tentacles will only make this process even smoother. I choose to give him speed as that is by far the most heroic of my many quirks.”

“You’re giving Midoriya the ability to move at Mach-20?” Sugaya asked with wide eyes.

“No, not entirely,” Korosensei clarified. “Since I am only replacing small patches of his DNA, I’m afraid I can only give him a percentage of my quirk — between five and ten percent. By the time I’m done, his top speeds should only be somewhere around Mach-2; still plenty fast enough for a Pro-Hero.”

That was an understatement. For Korosensei to bless Midoriya with such a gift...he didn’t even have to question if his best friend wanted it. Given who it came from, Midoriya would likely honor this quirk with his life.

“I’m short on blood. Type O blood donors, if you’d please.” Isogai and Kurahashi held out their arms as two of Korosensei’s tentacles swooped into to safely extract some of their blood. “Nakamura, I need you to feed me that cake. I know it’s been smashed on the floor, but I need to replenish my energy!”

Her nose scrunched up, the blonde begrudgingly handed over the dirty cake. Hitoshi watched in fascinated horror as Midoriya’s chest was sewn back together cell by cell until the hole was finally gone.

“I tried to prevent scarring, but I’m afraid I don’t have enough unharmed cells to do that,” Korosensei said, gently placing Midoriya on the ground. His chest was closed, a grotesque scar left behind. At certain angles, Hitoshi swore it looked vaguely like a crescent moon. How morbidly symbolic.

“According to my handy dandy ‘What to Do for a Gunshot Student’ manual I picked up after Shinsou’s scare, his heart should start beating any moment, but I think it best we give it a bit of a jump start. It’s going to have to keep up with a very accelerated body, after all.”

With his tentacle hands lighting up with electricity, he placed them on Midoriya’s chest, making the body jolt. The whole class waited with bated breath for what was next.

_ C’mon, Jolly Green, c’mon… _

Midoriya Izuku came back to life breathing the same gasp he died with. The class jumped and Hitoshi wanted nothing more than to tackle his friend to the ground but held back, almost not believing his eyes.

“Koro...sensei?” Midoriya croaked slowly, opening his eyes — his bright, vibrant eyes — and the entire class erupted in screams. 

“Izuku!” Hitoshi cried, pulling his friend into a harsh hug. He heard Midoriya squeaked and say, “Ow, Hitoshi, my chest, you’re squeezing too tightly!” so the brainwasher resorted to violently shaking his friend’s shoulders.

“You idiot, you fucking idiot, jumping in front of the tentacle like that! You died, you’d still be dead right now if it weren’t for Korosensei!”

Midoriya gently cupped his face, and Hitoshi froze. “Well, yeah, but if I didn’t do that, you would’ve been the one who died.”

Hitoshi’s eyes brimmed with tears. Self-sacrificing bastard.

“Yo, Pipsqueak! I outta pummel you for giving us a scare like that!” roared Terasaka. Midoriya jumped and held up his hands.

“I’m sorry, I really am, I promise it will never happen again — huh?”

Midoriya, who had been frantically shaking his hands, suddenly started moving supersonic, making his hands nothing but a blur of motion. The whole class froze as the green-haired boy cautiously tried it again, shaking his hands so fast it was almost impossible to see with the human eye. 

Korosensei giggled. “My parting gift to you, Young Midoriya. Take this small piece of my power and do with it what I never could: become a hero.”

Midoriya went shock still, as if having a quirk was more shocking than coming back from the dead. For this kid, it probably was.

“S-Sir, I…” Midoriya trailed off, staring at his hands in wonder before looking at Korosensei with a grin that’d make All-Might jealous. “I will, sir! I’ll make you proud!”

“I know you will.” Their teacher smiled back and then promptly collapsed.

-.-.-.-

It was time. They all knew it was. Korosensei was exhausted, laying on the ground, completely defenseless. He always told him the easiest way to overpower him would be to hold him down by each of his tentacles, and now the chance to do that was right in front of their eyes. 

So why was no one moving?

“Come now,” Korosensei sighed. “I didn’t teach you all to hesitate at such a crucial moment. I know it’s hard, but at this point, we’re just waiting out the clock. I’m sorry. Our time together has come to an end.”

He was right. The government’s laser was glowing bright, threatening the inevitable. They only had about thirty minutes before it went off.

In the end, Isogai had them take a vote, asking who didn’t want to kill him. They all raised their hands. But when he asked who wanted to kill him...with tears in their eyes and broken hearts, they all raised their hands too. 

After all, what choice did they have? This is what they’ve trained for; dedicated an entire year toward. Their knives and guns were apart of them, as was the teacher who taught them how to use them. At the end of the day, they were assassins, and their target was their teacher. It had to be done, no matter how much it hurt. 

Midoriya’s whole body was shaking like a leaf, subconsciously using his superspeed when suddenly he coughed up blood, alarming everyone. 

“Izuku!”

The green-haired boy waved the brainwasher off. “I-I’m fine.” He said, spitting the blood out like he was spitting out a bad drink.

“S-Shit,” Korosensei hissed weakly. “I didn’t account for how my quirk would affect you in this weakened state. You’ll likely be throwing up blood every time you use your quirk with your full body for months. If only I had enough energy left, I could—”

Midoriya, ever the angel, shook his head. “Don’t worry sir. I’ll heal soon and then I’ll be able to use this power to its full extent. Until then, I have my second blades. Just like you taught me.”

Korosensei smiled, his pride so great it couldn’t be put to words. “Yes. You do.”

-.-.-.-

They gathered around their teacher, everyone working together to pin down his tentacles. Hitoshi’s hands shook and he couldn’t calm them, the tentacle firm under his and Midoriya’s grips. The green-haired boy had his eyes closed, unable to even watch what they were about to do.

“Your heart. It’s under your tie, right?” Kataoka asked, and Korosensei nodded. “Who’s gonna...Midoriya?”

The green-haired boy jolted to alertness. “I-I don’t think I can,” he said, eyeing his hands. “I’m not quite sure I can control my body enough to do...that. Maybe Hito—”

“I’ll do it. Please,” Nagisa volunteered, and no one objected. No one wanted the job anyway. The blue-haired boy straddled Korosensei’s chest, knife in his hand and ready. Hitoshi couldn’t even imagine what it must be like, staring down at their teacher’s face, about to end the life of the greatest man they ever met. 

“Irina, Karasuma,” Korosensei, and Hitoshi turned to find their other teachers watching from afar. “Please, watch over the children. I fear they’ll need protecting from the world once I’m gone. Guide them for me.”

The blonde woman looked down and nodded silently, while Karasuma stared their teacher right in the eye.

“Of course,” he said. “Rest in peace, Korosensei.”

Korosensei smiled sadly. “Okay, class. I know we don’t have much time left, but please indulge me. I’d like to call roll one last time. All I ask is when I call your name, answer in a loud voice and a brave face. When I’m done, then you can commence the assassination.”

When no one objected, their teacher began.

“Akabane Karma.”

“Here,” the red-haired boy responded hoarsely.

“Isogai Yuma.”

“Here.”

“Midoriya Izuku.”

“H-Here!”

Hitoshi took his friend’s shaking hand as a means to calm him down, but it didn’t help that he couldn’t stop shaking himself. His hands trembled no matter how hard he tried to get them to stop. He was so focused on trying to regain control of himself that he almost missed his own name.

“Shinsou Hitoshi.”

“...right here.”

It went on like that, only getting harder and harder to hold back tears as their teacher continued down the role. Realization of what they were about to lose settled in. This man, this creature, this mentor who brought them up from their darkest time; trained them in the unlikeliest of ways; cheered for them and comforted them when they needed it most. This is what they were losing. They weren’t just losing a teacher, or a friend, or a hero. They were losing someone so much greater. 

They were losing Korosensei. 

Memories of the year came rushing back, from meeting Midoriya to meeting Korosensei. From taking naps during P.E. to taking down Pro-Heroes. From facing monsters like Takaoka, to nightmares like the Reaper, to mysteries like Principal Asano, to challenges like Principal Nedzu. To forging bonds and friendships with even the unlikeliest of people and making enemies with the most dangerous.

“I say this with all sincerity,” Korosensei said once he was done calling role. “It’s a  _ privilege  _ to be assassinated by you all.”

Nagisa then drew his knife and poised it over Korosensei’s heart. His hand trembled, growing worse by the moment. Emotional distress began to eep off him in waves as he raised the blade. Hitoshi winced at the mental attack and built a wall in his mind to block it just as Nagisa drew back with a scream.

“Nagisa,” the brainwasher said, making the distressed boy pause.

“Wha-”

“Calm down,” he said, taking control of his mind. “You’re Projecting your anguish. Don’t kill Korosensei like that.”

Nagisa’s Projecting went away, the unnatural pain and anguish dissipating from their heavy hearts. When he deemed it was safe, the brainwasher slowly let go of Nagisa’s mind, and the empath started sobbing to himself.

“I — I can’t — Shinsou, I need you to —”

“No, you don’t,” the brainwasher said. “You can kill him by yourself, as yourself. I know you can. Just smile.”

_ Please don’t make me be the one to bring about the finishing blow. _

Even though he wasn’t being brainwashed anymore, Nagisa did just that, a small smile gracing his lips. “G-Goodbye...Korosensei.”

Their teacher smiled back. “Goodbye, Nagisa...Goodbye, my students. I wish for you all to live beautiful lives.”

New emotions came over them. Gratitude. Regret. Love. Pain. Everything the Nagisa was feeling, he put it into that blade, channeling his soul into theirs. Into Korosensei.

And then he drove the knife down.

Bright, white light overcame their senses as Korosensei glowed. His tentacles turned into small yellow particles, floating away, caressing them as they took flight, telling them: Congratulations. They did it. The lights celebrated for them, cheering them in the way only Korosensei knew how; as if Korosensei was still there, whole, giving them hope, teaching them to be amazing. The yellow lights floated up, disappearing in the light of the permanent crescent moon until they were completely gone.

Korosensei was gone. 

Nagisa sent out a Projection of pure pain, and that’s when they all lost control. Hitoshi screamed, cried, clutching the empty grass where their Korosensei once laid, searching for his tentacle, wanting it to touch his shoulder one last time, to comfort him, to cheer him, but all he found was dirt. His face was a smear of snot and tears and even some of Midoriya’s dried blood. Korosensei didn’t bleed. The only trace he left behind was his beloved school uniform, the knife still embedded in his tie.

Midoriya lost total control of his body, uncontrollably shaking at super speed, making him choke on blood and tears. The brainwasher reached over and wrapped himself around his best friend in a full-body hug, wincing as the supersonic limbs rubbed against him as if he was getting a rope burn.

“Izuku. You need to reply to me, you need to—”

“K-Korosensei!” the boy cried and Hitoshi took control, stopping his best friend’s newfound quirk, easing his mind of all the pain so all Midoriya would feel was a blank nothing. So that all the pain he was experiencing was locked away in this out-of-body feeling. Hitoshi wished he could do the same for himself; wished there was a way to turn his quirk on himself so he didn’t have to feel this anguish, didn’t have to experience this horror. Without realizing it, he released Midoriya of the brainwashing, but the green-haired boy was too emotionally distraught to even move again. 

The heroes, some having woken up from the tranquilizer, some new ones being called in, found them like that, All-Might surprisingly leading the charge. They looked horrified at the sight: thirty school children, bawling their eyes out over the clothing remains of their teacher. What had happened here was obvious, and it was too late for anyone to save them. Many of the heroes had to look away, unable to witness the disturbing distress of these poor kids. All-Might wasn’t smiling.

Hitoshi vaguely registered being picked up and carried by Cementoss. Karasuma had them taken to their school desks where they found two massive books sitting on each desk waiting for them, as well as their diplomas. One book was the E-class yearbook, and another was Korosensei’s rules to live by. They were left alone as the laser went off, its original target already vanquished.

His classmates slowly began to fall asleep at their desks, using the books as pillows, but Hitoshi couldn’t sleep; not after a night like this. He flipped through the 4000 paged yearbook, taking in every picture, every moment. When he came across an entire spread dedicated to the time he wore drag, he didn’t get mad or try to tear it to shreds. He smiled, thinking about how that saved the mission, and therefore half the classes’ lives. 

He saw pictures of him learning to throw a baseball with Midoriya, remembering how terrified of everything his best friend had been back then. Midoriya would’ve rather died than play a baseball game against A-class, and now...he really has come so far, Hitoshi noted fondly.

There was even a manga style photo spread of the time he and Karma pranked Terasaka. They bought a stuffed lion cub and left it lying on the floor in dirt and hid in the trees while they waited to see the delinquent's reaction. Terasaka walked up to it, tried to make sure no one was looking, and then picked it up and cradled it. 

There were so many photos, so many moments memorialized: from Isogai running them through drills, to Itona trying to build a remote control mini tank to take out Korosensei (only for it to be ultimately bested by a squirrel), to Nakamura and Karma  _ both  _ flirting with Nagisa dressed as a girl. Moments he remembered fondly and moments he’d almost forgotten even happened, all captured by Korosensei because he was there.

He was always there. For them.

-.-.-.-

Against all odds, the sun still rose the next morning. Graduation day. 

Karasuma let them go to the ceremony at the main campus so they could honor Korosensei by walking the stage in his memory. The ceremony itself was entirely uneventful; mostly everyone avoided them, too scared to approach. Hitoshi walked up to pick up his diploma from Principal Asano with his head held high.

“I see you’re doing well for yourself, all things considered. There’s no doubt you gained this confidence from your teacher,” the principal said with a surprisingly kind smile. “Your father would be very proud of you.”

Hitoshi grinned softly. “Yeah, I think he would.”

It wasn’t until the ceremony was over that things turned to hell. The media stormed the building, an army of cameras and story-hungry reporters. Hitoshi smirked when he noticed they were all pointedly avoiding him — no doubt learned their lesson — but that didn’t stop them from swarming his classmates like bees.

“Is it true you took out multiple Pro-Heroes in your craze to kill the Tentacle?”

“How did the monster die? Did he fight or hurt you in any way?”

“How are your parents feeling about what’s happened? Did they know?”

“What do you have to say about the government releasing a statement claiming they plan to make your class into an elite military squad? Is it just another example of them forcing you to do things against your will?”

“Wait, what?” Hitoshi asked, and the reporter suddenly looked scared shitless. Fortunately, another much braver (or maybe more stupid) reporter stepped up.

“The government said that to appease public concerns that your class is a danger to society, they will be closely monitoring you by having you function as a type of military police force. What do you have to say to that?”

Before Hitoshi could respond (because, like, what the fuck?) Karasuma stepped in, telling the media to get out of there, but they wouldn’t listen, instead turning their questions to their P.E. teacher.

“Are you the handler for this new military program? Can you explain what it is that these children will be doing acting as government agents?”

“Do you think it’s wrong that children are going to be forced to become dogs for the government? Aren’t you worried about their safety?”

A brick wall appeared out of nowhere, cutting off the media from the class, and suddenly they found themselves surrounded by the Virtuosos. 

“Asano? What is this?” Hitoshi asked.

“A rescue escort, obviously,” the principal’s son. “Now let’s move it. Your bus is waiting for you outside.”

With A-class and the Virtuosos acting as a human wall (or a literal one in Seo’s case), E-class was painlessly led away from the mass of reporters to their bus. Koyama used his snake hair to nip at the ankles of any belligerent reporters, while Sakakibara, who was probably supposed to be using his Charm Speak on the media, was using it to flirt with Kanzaki, much to Sugino’s chagrin. Just before he loaded the bus, Hitoshi paused in front of Asano, arching an eyebrow.

“Pretty cool for such a ‘ruthless’ guy,” he teased. Asano scowled.

“Whatever, I’m just doing what any good future leader would,” he stated. “Oh, and Shinsou? Next time you plan on raiding a mountain to kill a super creature, just tell me and use the front door. Your sneaking out was entirely unnecessary and worried the maid.”

Yeah, sure. The ‘maid.’

“Aw, so you do care,” Hitoshi cooed and disappeared on the bus before Asano could retaliate. He plopped in a seat next to Midoriya, who was staring out the window in horror.

“I always thought the first time I’d be mobbed by reporters was my hero-debut,” he said numbly. Hitoshi snorted.

“Well, hopefully when that happens, they’ll be a lot nicer than this.”

-.-.-.-

Once everyone was on the bus, Karasuma got on and they pulled away. Hitoshi, way past beating around the bush, wasted no time asking the question on everyone’s mind.

“What the hell were they talking about back there?”

When the man didn’t immediately answer, Hitoshi bristled. His irritation was shared by many.

_ “Please  _ tell me it’s just a rumor, sir,” Kurahashi begged. 

Kataoka nodded. “If this is some kind of sick joke, we need to know.”

“It’s not,” Karasuma said. “It’s not a joke.”

The class was stunned silent, not knowing what to say. Fortunately, Karasuma did.

“The original plan was to pretend we had no idea Korosensei was teaching you, and to play you up more as victims,” the man explained. “When that failed and the media started getting out of hand, we had to act fast. The people were calling for you to be rounded up, contained and isolated from society. The president decided to appease them and declared you all a new military force: the Emergency National Defense. END for short.”

Hitoshi felt like his mind was moving through putty. Military...force…

“You can’t do this to us!” Mimura shouted.

“Yeah, we’re not some toy soldiers for the country to play with!” added Yada.

“We’re kids! You can’t expect kids to be government agents! How stupid do you have to be to think this is a good idea?” snapped Sugaya.

“Sir, we want to go back to living normal lives!” Midoriya pleaded. “It’s what Korosensei wanted, it’s what—”

“Well, it’s because of Korosensei that you can’t!”

The whole class tensed and flinched at the outburst and Karasuma sighed, pinching his nose. “Think about it. You’ve been trained at an elite level high enough to neutralize the world’s greatest threat. You took out Japan’s top heroes — even if you did have the vast home-field advantage — and have been trained to fight in ways not even hero students can. Society thinks you’re dangerous and they’re right; you have skills that make you incredibly dangerous.”

Okajima made a choking sound. “That doesn’t mean we’ll act on them!”

“Yeah, we’re not going to go around terrorizing cities!” Nakamura said. “We just want to go to high school!”

“I know that. The problem is that the world doesn’t. They don’t know you, they don’t know your heart, they don’t know what your capable of. What they do know is that you’re incredibly strong and you just killed the Tentacle. Which means they fear you.” Karasuma crossed his arms. “Look. I know you don’t want this. I argued against it as much as I could, but the moment you set foot on the mountain last night, the decision was made. As the person who encouraged you to do so, I feel tremendously responsible. I know this is the last thing Korosensei would’ve wanted, but I’m afraid he’s not here anymore.”

The reminder was just another slap in the face. Hitoshi rubbed his eyes, wishing he could wake up from this nightmare.

“So that’s it, huh?” Karma asked, his voice tense and dangerous. “Just like that, we’re military dogs, soon to be shipped out to do the government’s bidding? What do they want us to do, end the war on terror? Eradicate Japan of its villains?”

“No,” Karasuma said sternly, a silent warning for Karma to  _ back down.  _ “You will act more like a police force, only being called altogether in the country’s most desperate moments. Until then, you will operate not much different than before. You will all still be able to go to school wherever you want, pursue the education you wish, and live relatively normal lives. Assignments will be given out occasionally, but not often, and only in small groups at a time. The government has already bought the mountain to build a base of operations where you can train and recuperate.

“Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I honestly believe this is the best thing we can do for our country right now. With Korosensei gone, the Number One Villain spot is up for grabs, and who knows what kind of monsters will come up trying to snatch it. There’s no doubt in my mind the world will need saving again, and at this rate, you’re the only ones I trust for the job.”

The class was silent, taking in Karasuma’s words. Hitoshi hated to admit he had a point. While crime rates spiked when the moon exploded, the appearances of big-name villains plummeted, many people too scared to challenge the beast that took out the moon. With him gone, it was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose.

“As of now, it’s only for a year,” Karasuma continued. “Assuming the world has come back to order by then, by March 13th of next year, END will no longer exist and you can all go back to leading the lives Korosensei wanted you to. The government won’t interfere anymore, and hopefully by then you will have proved yourself to the media and the public enough to be left alone.”

It wasn’t what they wanted to hear, but at this point, it was the best they were going to get. They played their hand, and the government played theirs. Now they just have to hope there’s still a chance for them to win this in the end.

After another long draw of silence, Hitoshi finally spoke up with an exasperated sigh. “END, huh?” he said. “Were you trying to be poetic, or did the government just not want to buy us new uniforms without the E?”

The class chuckled at the distraction and Karasuma mouthed him a silent thank you. Hitoshi just closed his eyes and prayed their lives couldn’t get any worse.

-.-.-.-

It got worse.

“What the  _ fuck  _ do you mean I’m not in the hero course?”

Hitoshi was livid. He was going to kill this furry. The mouse bastard had gone too far this time.

Just when they thought they were finally settling back in with their lives, Karasuma gave him and Midoriya a call, saying Nedzu wanted to meet with them. Their old P.E. teacher took the liberty to drive them all to U.A. himself to see what Nedzu had to say.

AKA a whole lot of bullshit.

“I understand you’re angry, dear Shinsou, but I’m afraid my hands are tied,” the mouse explained. “Not only is the public outraged hearing that we allowed two E-class students to apply to the school, but the school board as well. They were trying to prevent me from letting either of you in the school at all, much less the hero course. U.A. has a policy that only four recommendation students can make the hero course each year, and they refused to let either of you take one of those spots. I was barely able to argue my case to make an exception for there to be one extra this year. And, well, since Midoriya scored one question higher than you on the written, the placement defaulted to him.”

Hitoshi slammed his hands on the table. “That wasn’t the deal! You said if we killed Korosensei instead of saving him, you’d let us into the hero course.”

“I know I did, Shinsou, but I’m afraid this is the best I can do for you boys right now. We’re lucky they’re letting you attend the school at all. The lengths I had to go through to keep up the bargain to this extent was immense.”

Hitoshi was about negative three seconds from stabbing his eyes out, but stopped when Karasuma gripped his shoulder.

“Principal Nedzu,” he addressed, clearly trying to sound civil to hide his own anger. “These young men are more than deserving of being placed in your hero course, and you know that. Why are you letting others deprive Shinsou the chance to become a hero? He’s a damn good fighter and an even better kid. I’d bet my life that he’d make a better hero than every kid on that roster.”

Hitoshi’s heart soared (said like a proud papa!) at the praise, but Nedzu just sighed and poured himself more tea.

“I never said I wasn’t giving dear Shinsou a chance to become a hero,” he stated. “I merely said I wasn’t able to start him in the hero course right away. You see, the school board may have forgotten, but U.A. will move up deserving students who have proven themselves in class and, most importantly, the Sports Festival. I believe you understand what I’m getting at.”

“And do you actually mean it?”

The whole room snapped to Midoriya who hadn’t said a single word until now. The boy’s face was hidden by his green bangs, but the clenched fists in his lap showed his true emotions.

Nedzu blinked. “Excuse me, my boy?”

“If Shinsou does well enough in the Sports Festival and beats out other hero course students,” Midoriya continued, lifting his head to meet Nedzu’s eyes. His green eyes were practically glowing. “Will you guarantee he gets into the hero course like he deserves, no matter what the board or public says?”

Nedzu actually looked somewhat affronted. 

“Well, I—”

_ “Will you?” _

Midoriya’s eyes were definitely glowing now. Nedzu’s tail flicked pensively. “Yes. If he proves himself to me, the school board, and the public, I will make sure of it.”

The green glow disappeared as Midoriya sunk back in his chair, looking way too depressed for someone who just achieved his dream. It broke Hitoshi’s heart to know his problems were the cause, and he grabbed his best friend’s hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Midoriya squeezed it back.

At the end of the day, this was just another challenge in their way; another roadblock on their path to becoming heroes. And just like every other time, they were going to use their wits, strength, and assassination skills to overcome it.

Together.

-.-.-.-

They were given one week of break to recuperate. It was during this time that they were finally paid the bounty money. 30 billion yen split between 30 students if they counted Ritsu (which they ultimately did, given how the AI girl was well apart of their class. They figured the money could be put toward good use to give her upgrades). 

Before they went wild, they all consulted Korosensei’s massive handbook. They initially planned to buy the mountain themselves, but seeing as the government had already done that, they decided to put that money toward charities that helped troubled kids that just needed someone to have faith in them, like Korosensei did for E-class. Yet even after this, everyone was still left with 900 million yen each; more than high schoolers ever needed, that was for sure. As per Korosensei’s request, they all put a huge portion toward funding their future education and any other financial needs before agreeing to leave anything left in a savings account, only to be used for absolute emergencies.

Shinsou used it to buy a new apartment.

“You do realize this is completely unnecessary, right? My father owns three apartment buildings in Musutafu,” Asano said, watching him pack and, of course, not offering to help. Asshole.

“Yeah, well I’m apparently a millionaire now, so I need something to spend it on,” Hitoshi retorted, sitting on his suitcase in an attempt to zip it up. Since when did his luggage overflow? It was barely filled when he got here. He thought he imagined it when he saw clothes appearing in his dresser, but clearly that was Asano’s passive-aggressive way of saying his clothing collection was pitiful. 

When it became evident that it wasn’t going to zip, Hitoshi cursed and began grumpily unloading the suitcase, deciding to only pack the things he needed. He survived off a limited change of clothing for years, and he can do it again.

“Useless,” he heard Asano mutter before the boy left the room. Hitoshi rolled his eyes. Yeah, screw you too.

But then the principal’s son came barging in the room with a very large, very expensive piece of luggage and began shoving all of Hitoshi’s things inside without even asking permission. “Hey!”

“When something doesn’t fit, you don’t take away your assets. You get a bigger box,” Asano snapped, almost sounding like Korosensei except, like, way snootier. The boy paused as he picked up Hitoshi’s clean-pressed U.A. uniform. “You know, I don’t understand why you’re going there. If you stayed at Kunugigaoka, you’d easily be placed in 1-A.”

The brainwasher snorted and snatched the uniform back. “Yeah, well, your 1-A isn’t a hero course, which is kinda the goal here, remember?”

Asano scowled. “My father could make it a hero course. He’d probably think it’d be fun, running a hero school.”

Hitoshi shuddered at the thought.

“Yeah, but then you wouldn’t be in 1-A. I don’t think your prideful heart could take it,” the brainwasher retorted, (justifiably) earning himself a face full of clothes.

-.-.-.-

For some reason, Bitch-sensei insisted she help him move into his new apartment. And for some reason, Hitoshi agreed.

What a fatal mistake.

“Will you stop trying to make everything pink?!” he screamed, finally snapping after catching his ex-English teacher attempting to redecorate his living room with her atrocious decorations for the nth time.

“Oh, Shitsou, I’m just trying to add a little color in your life,” she cooed. “Pink is the color of love, you know. Karasuma’s been kinda like you about my decorating tastes, but I think the color really brings out the mood. Why bother living in sexual tension when you can bring it all out so  _ vibrantly  _ and—”

“ENOUGH! I don’t want to hear about you or Karasuma’s sex life! Ever!”

Bitch-sensei pouted. “Just you wait, Shitsou. Soon you’ll find a blond bombshell all for yourself and then we’ll see how you behave.”

“You have about two seconds to stop talking and start helping before I brainwash you out of my apartment.”

-.-.-.-

His first night alone in his new apartment, Hitoshi woke up convinced he was drowning in blood — Midoriya’s blood — as the Reaper’s tentacle ran him through, again and again and again until there was nothing left of his best friend. 

He spent a good half hour screaming and crying in the shower, fully clothed, as he tried to rinse away that imaginary blood. 

His capture rings were now permanently stained red. He made a mental note to ask Itona to make him new ones; he’s not sure he can even look at those old ones again, much less touch them. They threw out his and Midoriya’s uniforms, saying there was little point in trying to clean and repair them when it was easier to just replace them entirely. Shinsou was very grateful for that. 

He would blame it on the mixture of insomnia and emotional distress caused possibly by PTSD, but the next thing he knew, he was sitting on the bathroom floor soaking wet and calling Midoriya.

“H-Hello?” the boy rasped after the third ring, clearly having just woken up. “Hitoshi? Is everything okay?”

Hitoshi put his hand over his mouth in a pitiful attempt to muffle his sobs. Just hearing Midoriya’s voice was enough to send him spiraling. Was he breathing? He couldn’t tell.

“Hello? Hitoshi, answer me,” Midoriya sounded much more awake, and Hitoshi bit on his tongue to stop a cry but failed. He could hear Midoriya flailing on the other side of the line. “Hitoshi? Oh god, are you...wait right there! Don’t move!”

The call went silent and Hitoshi did what he was told and didn’t move, not even to lower the phone. His body felt out of his control. Is this what being brainwashed felt like? Had he brainwashed himself? Was that even possible?

Minutes later, there was the sound of his apartment doorknob being wiggled violently, and suddenly Midoriya was right in front of him, hacking up globs of blood. The sight of red did nothing but make Hitoshi hyperventilate more.

“Oh my god, Hitoshi,” the boy whispered after spitting the blood in the toilet, gently crouching down in front of the brainwasher. Hitoshi blinked, partially convinced this was all a dream.

“Did you run here all the way from Tokyo? Did you break into my apartment?” he asked numbly as Midoriya reached out and gently grabbed his arm — the touch felt solid, so this probably wasn’t a dream, right? 

“Yes to both,” Midoriya said, helping the brainwasher to his feet and supporting him all the way out of the bathroom and onto the bed. “My best friend is having a PTSD induced panic attack and I have super speed now. Of course I’m going to be here.”

The green-haired boy began rummaging through his unpacked suitcase, pulling out a pair of dry clothes. Hitoshi stared at the wall. 

“It was just a bad dream. Nothing new,” he mumbled, and that made his friend’s stop in his rummaging. Midoriya turned to him eerily slow.

“You’re saying you’ve had this happen to you before?” His green eyes were wide with fear. Hitoshi hated it, hated that he was the cause.

“Not this bad,” he admitted. “Normally I’d wake up and go sit on the roof to clear my head, but this time...well…”

Midoriya approached him with the clothes. “Arms up,” he ordered, and Hitoshi obeyed, letting his soaked shirt get peeled off his body. “How long has this been going on?”

A warm, fluffy sweater with cats on it was shoved over his head, somewhat muffling his response. “Since the Reaper.”

Midoriya hissed like he was burned, pulling the sweater all the way down. “And you didn’t tell anyone? Didn’t tell me?”

Feeling a bit more like himself has the conversation dragged on, the sweater safe and warm, Hitoshi bravely responded, “Well, if I recall correctly, it was around the same time you were growing your green tentacle friends, so…” 

His best friend scowled deeply before slapping Hitoshi upside the head at Mach-2. “Hey!”

“You need to tell people about this kinda stuff. It’s dangerous, Hitoshi! You could get yourself killed if you’re not careful,” he lectured, throwing a pair of boxers and sweats at the brainwasher before turning around. 

Hitoshi sighed and swapped out his clothes. When he was done, he asked, “And what about you? You can’t tell me you’ve experienced becoming a science experiment or getting impaled and  _ dying  _ and you’re not fucked up by it.” 

The silence he received was more than an answer. With a sigh, the brainwasher kicked his wet clothes into his laundry hamper and crawled into his bed, patting the spot next to him. “C’mon, we’re getting some sleep.”

Midoriya jerked, turning back around. “Huh — Wha?”

Hitoshi laid out an extra pillow, silently grateful Bitch-sensei made him buy the two-person bed, even if this wasn’t her intention. “We’re going to bed. I need a good night's sleep but can’t without getting nightmares of you dying in my arms. You owe me now. Besides, all of Fuwa’s cringy angst mangas have this trope that sleeping with someone helps you not get nightmares or some shit. Let’s test it out.” 

Midoriya blinked but took off his shoes and crawled into the open space. The brainwasher scowled crossly.

“You wore shoes in my house. There’s no way your mother didn’t teach you better.”

“I had other concerns, okay?!”

“Yeah, sure. Not like you move at Mach-2 and could’ve easily taken them off in .01 seconds. By the way, if I wake up and find my doorknob broken, you’re buying me a new one.”

“Oh. Okay…. Um. Where do you buy one?”

“You piece of shit.”

-.-.-.-

“Shitsou! Are you okay? I was going to knock, but your doorknob is totally ruined and I got worried — oh!”

Hitoshi blearily opened his eyes and could just barely make out Bitch-sensei standing in his bedroom doorway through a mob of green hair.

Wait. Green hair?

“Shit!” the brainwasher hissed, trying and failing to untangle his limbs from Midoriya’s still sleeping form — how was he not awake yet?!

“Oh, Shitsou, you dog!” his ex-teacher said, grinning maniacally. “You just couldn’t wait a single night? Look at you, breaking your door just trying to get inside; I warned you about sexual tension! I feel like such a proud mama. You used protection, right?”

Hitoshi grabbed the lamp right off his bedside table and chucked it at her head. “It’s not fucking like that! Are you blind, we’re not even naked! Why are you so disgusting?!”

“What, you’re trying to tell me you two were ‘just sleeping?’” Bitch-sensei teased and the brainwasher bristled.

“That’s exactly what it was!” He took a deep breath, knowing a screaming match wouldn’t get anywhere with her. “Look. I-I had a pretty shit night last night and Izuku came to make sure I was okay. That’s all this was. I’m not sleeping with my best friend or something scandalous, so get your mind out of there. It’s not like that with us.” 

Bitch-sensei’s face turned somber. “Nightmare, huh?” she guessed and Hitoshi didn’t deny it. “I always asked Karasuma if he knew what he was getting you kids into. You weren’t born in a place of war like me or Korosensei, quickly desensitized to the world of monsters and killing out of necessity. I always assumed it would take its toll on you guys. I was naive to hope I’d be wrong.”

Hitoshi stared at his arms, the scars from the Reaper still visible. Bitch-sensei stared too. “You know, I think I’ll take the Reaper incident to my grave as my biggest failure,” she continued. “Up until that point, I was kidding myself to think I was a real teacher. Watching that man toy with you just made me realize what a joke I was. I couldn’t save you or protect you like I was supposed to. All I could do was go and get brainwashed.”

Hitoshi gently pulled down his sleeves to hide the scars. “S’not your fault. The Reaper is the monster here. I don’t blame you in any way.”

Bitch-sensei smiled, cold and sad. “You should.”

It was in that tense moment that Midoriya finally started to stir to life, slapping around his hand like he was looking for something and smacking his lips. When his hand found Hitoshi’s face, the boy jolted awake at Mach-2.

“Who the! Oh! Right! Hey, Ms. Jelavić, I didn’t know you were coming over!” the green-haired boy cried, not so subtly wiping away a trickle of blood from his mouth. The ex-teacher grinned wickedly and Hitoshi braced himself.  _ Here we go again. _

“Oh, you know, I was in the neighborhood when I noticed Shitsou’s doorknob was broken. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, right?”

-.-.-.-

By the time the week was up, they were told to meet up at their new END building: a state of the art, military-grade and beyond facility with top-notch weaponry, training equipment, and technology that belonged only in a super spy’s dream. They built it right next to their old building. The government wanted to tear it down and replace it, but they were met by adamant objections. The new place was total overkill. Training mats filled the main floor, while climbing material lined the walls to grant them access to the second floor where the mission control base was: a huge screen surrounded by even more little screens and a keyboard Hitoshi couldn’t even begin to understand, much less use. 

They were equipped with all new weapons and technology. Everyone got a new Ritsu-programed phone and smartwatch that they were ordered to never take off unless instructed since the watch monitored their vitals and would send an alarm to everyone if something went wrong. Both devices were everything-proofed. They also got new comm sets that were basically invisible when in the ear and a sheet they could fill out to request any special equipment or weapons.

And then they were handed real knives and guns.

“Um,” Midoriya began, the reality of their new position settling in. “Are we going to be expected to…”

“That’s up to you,” Karasuma said. “The government has given these out to you as common practice, but if you wish — and frankly, I’d highly encourage it — to make weapons of your own that are non-lethal, you’re welcome to. It seems that tranquilizer formula Okuda created should be more than useful for you.”

They all released a relieved breath of air. The idea of actually killing other people...it was far too much to mentally handle. They were kids for crying out loud. Some of them just barely turned 15. Despite what the media liked to play them up to be, they weren’t ruthless killing machines. They were normal kids. Sure, they could run on buildings and jump through trees and hit impossible targets and occasionally surprise takedown superheroes, but that was all training. It wasn’t serious until the government decided to make it. 

“I know you’re all wondering, so let me clarify it for you,” Karasuma said, tapping away at the keyboard. “How END will operate is simple. You will be acting as a special police force, meaning you will help protect people in a variety of ways. A few examples include acting as middlemen during high priority negotiations, being the backup team for military squads on missions, monitoring the city when there are threats of attacks, and even taking down criminals and villains. The last responsibility, while technically defaults to the police and Pro-Heroes, is well under your jurisdiction if needs be. If you witness a criminal or villain attack, you will report it to Ritsu, and she will give you the green light if you are the nearest and best option for the job. You’re all already licensed by the government to use your quirks in public. Think of it as being constantly off duty and undercover until the moment arises.”

“Well, who's to say we’ll even do your dirty work? What if we just refuse?” Terasaka asked. Their ex-P.E. teacher turned handler smirked.

“Well, while I hope you would all be eager to serve your fellow man, I did take into consideration that there might be push-back. We are forcing this job upon you, after all. Which is why I’ve devised a system.”

The screens behind Karasuma changed from showing them video examples of the types of missions and assignments they’ll be given next to a chart with all of their faces on it. “For every mission you participate in or criminal/villain you stop, you’ll get a point. The five students with the most points at the end of the week get to miss out on intensive training for the following week.”

The class whispered noisily amongst themselves. “Um, just curious. How intense  _ is  _ intensive training?” Muramatsu asked, and the smile Karasuma gave them sent a shiver down their spines. That was more than enough of an answer, but their teacher said it anyway.

“Let’s just say if you thought training in E-class was hard, intensive training will be hell.”

The coyote boy whimpered as their handler continued, “We ask that you report to the base once a week for intensive training, as well as when we call you for special missions, but you are free to operate here as much as you’d like. You can even sleep in the bunk room if you want. The facility is completely open to all of you, but it’s against the rules to bring anyone here without specific permission from me. Is that clear?”

The class nodded. “Yes, sir!”

“Good. Any other questions?”

Kanzaki raised her hand. “Um, sir, on your chart thing. What are the names listed under our pictures supposed to mean? And the weird symbol next to it?”

Hitoshi looked and noticed what she was talking about. Under his picture (they were in seat order, he noted) were the words ‘Agent Control’ and next to it in parenthesis was a strange jagged ‘E’ symbol.

“Is that the Greek alphabet?” Midoriya wondered aloud, and Hitoshi realized he was right, recognizing the symbols from their calculus unit. The symbol next to his name was sigma. There was also the alpha, beta, gamma, and delta symbols randomly placed by people’s names. Scanning further, he realized that only he and Midoriya had the sigma symbol. 

“What, are we being forced to join sororities to?” Nakamura mumbled, but Karasuma didn’t pay any attention to the sly comment if he heard it.

“The names are the codenames you will be referred to on missions. I know your faces have already been dug up and published by the media, but it’s still best to try and keep you as anonymous as possible, especially in high profile situations. After the interesting little experiment with codenames we had in class, I took the liberty to name you all myself to...ensure professionalism,” Karasuma explained. “I didn’t go too deep so the names would be easy for you to pick up quickly. I mainly based them on your quirk, strengths, appearance or well-known traits.”

Hitoshi had to bite his tongue when he saw Midoriya’s codename. “Agent Quirk?” he whispered, cackling. His best friend blushed and elbowed him profusely. 

Honestly, Karasuma wasn’t known for his outright sense of humor, but maybe that’s what made some of these ‘professional’ codenames so funny. ‘Agent Devil’ for Karma or ‘Agent Snake’ for Nagisa? While he could see where they came from, they were lowkey shady. He snorted at ‘Agent President’ for Isogai or ‘Agent Sunshine’ for Kurahashi. 

“Why am I Agent Tentacle and not Midoriya? No offense,” Itona asked, and Hitoshi arched an eyebrow, genuinely curious too.

Karasuma shrugged. “First impressions. Also to help you fit into Terasaka’s gang a little better.”

Okay. Nevermind.  _ Highkey  _ shady. Who knew the man had it in him.

“Hey, I’m not complaining! Agent Freeze sounds pretty cool!” Okajima cheered, trying to sling his arm around Kataoka who promptly dodged and shoved him to the floor, sneering.

“I think Agent Pervert would’ve been a better fit.”

“Sir, you still haven’t explained the symbol yet,” Isogai pointed out. Karasuma nodded.

“Yes, of course,” he hit a few more buttons and their pictures moved so they were separated into groups based on the symbol. “As I said before, full class missions will be incredibly rare. Typically you will go in small groups. The largest missions will be when we send out unit squads.”

Another button was pushed and the screen zoomed in on the ‘Alpha’ unit, showing pictures of Karma, Isogai, Terasaka, Sugino, Okano, Kataoka and Kimura next to videos of the military fighting and heroes battling.

“The Alpha unit is our attack team. In cases of a mission where the top fighters are needed, this will be the first team to respond. Common missions will include military ops and assisting heroes in large scale villain attacks. They will also likely be spending the most time in the public eye, which is why Kataoka and Isogai will take roles of PR heads, so to speak, in terms of interacting with the public. This team will be led by Karma, with Isogai as first lieutenant.”

The screen changed, pulling up the ‘Beta’ unit, which included Nagisa, Yada, Okajima, Chiba, Hayami, and Muramatsu. The videos played look like scenes out of a spy movie.

“The Beta unit is our backup and covert ops team. When missions are too much for just Alpha to handle, Beta will go in to lend support. They will also be participating in more of our secret, get-in and get-out type missions you’d most commonly find assassins and spies doing. This team will be led by Nagisa, with Hayami as first lieutenant.”

The Gamma unit, Karasuma went on to explain, was the control and intel team, and consisted of Nakamura, Ritsu, Okuda, Takebayashi, Mimura, Itona, Fuwa, and Hazama. They would mostly be located either at home base giving out orders and keeping those in the field aware, or they’d be staking out the enemy and gathering as much intelligence as possible. The team was captained by Nakamura with Fuwa as lieutenant.

The Delta unit was the defense and rescue team, which meant they were going to be dealing most directly with the citizens during a mission. It was made up of Yoshida, Hara, Maehara, Kurahashi, Kanzaki, and Sugaya. They would be in charge of making sure no bystanders were hurt during missions and that no one tried to sneak up and hurt the other units. Maehara was in charge, with Kanzaki as second in command. 

“And then we have Sigma,” Karasuma said, changing the screen to pull up his and Midoriya’s faces. There were no mission example videos accompanying it. “As you can tell, it’s our smallest unit. Their job is to act as a failsafe. When a mission goes bad and every team is down for the count, Sigma is the unit that will step in. I picked who made up this team for a very special reason.”

The screens changed to show videos of E-class throughout the year during training or assassination attempts against Korosensei, and even some from their raid of the mountain. Hitoshi had no idea how Karasuma acquired them, and figured they probably came from Ritsu’s harddrive

“When I was creating the other teams, I went off your strengths and specialties. Though all of you could easily be a part of any unit, I went with the one I thought you’d perform the strongest in. When I created Sigma, however, the process was different. This needed to be the absolute strongest, most well-rounded team even when they’d get the least formal missions. Since these two will be attending U.A., the lack of missions will better suit their schedules, and they’ll get constant battle training. But I want you to understand what a failsafe team is. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. 

“I told you they will come in during the worst of battles, but the circumstances it takes to require a failsafe is no joke. When I say every team is down for the count, it could very well mean it’s because the enemy has eliminated or incapacitated everyone else. I chose Midoriya and Shinsou because I hope their training and connections with heroes will mean they’ll be able to save the world when END is no longer there to.”

The room went tense. When END is no longer there? In case they’ve all been eliminated? Just what was the government planning to do with END? Did they forget they were just fifteen?

“Are…Are you anticipating that being in END will get us all killed?” Nagisa breathed. Karasuma shook his head.

“I pray not. I know your skill, and I believe in your capabilities. But unfortunately, we live in a very evil world with people who seek to corrupt and destroy. We have to be ready for every possible outcome, even if the likelihood of it happening is less than 1%.”

Less than 1%. Korosensei had less than 1% chance of actually exploding according to the moon data, but that didn’t stop the government from demanding his execution.

The foreboding mood didn’t go away, to say the least. 

Karasuma, sensing the atmosphere, sighed. “I understand it’s a dark thought, and I’m sorry to bring it up.” He tapped the keyboard and the screens turned off. “Just some final clarification. While the world knows about END and will soon see and hear of you in action, you must keep how we operate a secret. Though we’ll try to avoid it, there may be times you’ll get an emergency mission in class and you’ll need to leave immediately. Your teachers will all be debriefed and should understand that you leaving is a government order, so hopefully you don’t catch any grief. If you do, tell me and I’ll handle it. If someone does find out or stumbles across something they shouldn’t see, it’ll be a lot of paperwork that no one wants, so please, be discreet for our sanity. That is all.”

Their handler left, leaving them all standing together in awkward silence. Hitoshi couldn’t help but feel all eyes were on him and Midoriya. Just when he thought this END thing couldn’t get any worse, Karasuma  _ had  _ to go put him on his stupid failsafe team.

“So,” Kurahashi said. “Karasuma-sensei said you’re both going to U.A. Does that mean everything with Nedzu worked out?”

His brain now thoroughly distracted from Sigma, Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck and sighed. “Oh, boy, this is a story.”

-.-.-.-

“That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard!” exclaimed Mimura, the boy kicking over a training dummy in frustration. “We just stopped the Number One Villain, and  _ this  _ is how they repay you?”

Needless to say, the class didn’t take the news of Hitoshi being in General Education very well. Quite the opposite, actually. Everyone was now fired up by Nagisa’s blatant (and probably deliberate) Projecting. Ritsu had to activate the emergency interior locks to keep Terasaka and his gang from going out and murdering the school board or Nedzu. Hitoshi was bummed she did, desperately wanting to see Terasaka go all lion on Nedzu in a full-blown furry vs furry battle.

“I can’t believe they’d do this to you,” spat Sugino. “So what if some parents are scared about their kid’s safety? They're sending their child to a school taught by  _ heroes  _ and they’re scared you two will somehow find a way to hurt people?”

“Well, in their defense, we did take out a ton of Pros, most of them making up U.A.’s staff,” Hayami pointed out. 

Maehara scoffed. “That was only because we got the jump on them  _ and  _ knew the territory better. If we were to have a rematch in any other situation, we wouldn’t stand a laughing chance.”

“That doesn’t matter to them,” Yoshida said. “What matters is that we’re scary, which means we don’t matter.”

The class sighed unanimously. Over the past week, the media coverage just kept getting worse and worse. Once it was confirmed that the E-class assassins were now END agents, the public had...mixed feelings to say the least. Some people were grateful they were being monitored. Some people were excited, hoping to finally see the mysterious students in action. And some (a lot) of people still wanted them shipped off to a remote island.

“You know, I don’t think this is about public opinion or the school board at all.”

Everyone turned their attention to Karma. The red-haired boy, who was leaning again the second-floor metal balcony, jumped down to the main floor with a flip to give his theory.

“I mean, think about it. The dude invented the SPEAR of Heaven laser and the SHIELD of Earth. There’s no way Nedzu hasn’t heard about Midoriya inheriting a bit of Korosensei’s speed quirk, even if it’s been declared a state secret.” The boy in question tensed up at the idea. “The guy openly admits he fought for Midoriya and really only Midoriya to get in the hero course. I think the reason is that he’s scared of him.”

“Um,” Nagisa flubbed. “Haven’t we established that Nedzu seems pretty scared of both of them?”

“Well, yes, but this is a whole different ballpark. Just think about.” Karma crossed his arms. “Before, Midoriya was just an extremely skilled quirkless boy.  _ Now  _ he’s an extremely skilled super sonic assassin who got his powers directly from the man Nedzu could never stop.” Karma laughed cruelly. “To put it simply, there’s no denying Nedzu is scared of you both — it’s likely the only reason he’s fought to let you U.A. in the first place. I bet if it was his call, he’d make us all go to U.A. so he could closely monitor our future education. The guy is obsessed with the idea that being taught a certain way sends you down a specific path, and the only reason he’s going against the public and the school board is that he wants to make sure the dangerous, skilled young men that he’s so scared of never become his enemy.

“But the reason he got Midoriya into the hero course immediately is that he wants to —  _ has  _ to guarantee that Midoriya doesn’t become anything like the creature that taught him in the first place and gave him his legacy. So while he’s still scared of Shinsou, he’s scared of Midoriya a hell of a lot more.”

The theory was even more unsettling than Nedzu’s initial explanation. To think Nedzu was only ‘routing’ for them was to watch them in some weird ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ like fashion was infuriating and degrading. It seemed after Korosensei was killed, the world needed a new threat to unite against, and that honor was instantly bestowed on the very people that stopped the old one.

“Well,” Midoriya said, staring down at his hands. “If that’s the case, we’ll just have to prove he has nothing to fear. Nedzu or the public can think what they want of us, but that’s not going to stop us. We’re assassins, which means when your first blade gets blocked, you just pull out your second one. Korosensei gave his life for me and Hitoshi to live this dream, and I’m never going to let anyone stop us.”

Hitoshi smirked and reached out, putting a firm hand on his best friend's shoulder. They looked at each other in the eye and a new, silent promise was made between them.

Korosensei didn’t sacrifice so much just for them to fail. They couldn’t fail, not when they were so close. No matter what happened, they were going to get through this. They already stopped the Number One Villain and saved the world. Not even All-Might could say that.

So no matter what anyone said or did to stop them, they wouldn’t stop pushing for their goal, fighting for their dream. It didn’t matter if someone axe-kicked them into submission or held them at gunpoint, they would never give up. They were going to become heroes. Because they had to. 

For Korosensei.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow...I genuinely can't believe that it's done. Thank you so much to everyone who has shown their love and support for this fic. I love you all so much!!! This is the first time I've ever finished a fanfic...I actually did it. Except that it's not done and I still have to write the sequel, weeeee
> 
> SUPER SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Yes, there will be a sequel, and I've already started it, but before that happens....I need a break so I can write more of it lol. BUT, I don't want to leave you guys with nothing for months, so I'm writing a side-story filled with one-shots and prompts and requests and shorts. SO PLEASE SEND IN REQUESTS YOU HAVE. It can be anything from character studies/backstories, missing scenes, scenes you think should exist, self-indulgences stuff like an actually romantic scene between Nagisa and Karma. Just send them in.
> 
> WHY I ENDED IT THE WAY I DID: For Assassination Classroom fans out there, as you can tell, I drastically changed the ending. Why? Three reasons:  
> 1\. I needed a way to incorporate 3-E into the sequel that still made them exciting and important characters.  
> 2\. I always thought E-class would make a badass team of assassins/agents in the real world so self-indulging.  
> 3\. In the original book, Korosensei isn't known by the public until the end. In this one, he's the Number One Villain. Evidently, people are going to fear E-class exponentially more in this story, especially since everyone has quirks too. It seemed to fit much better.
> 
> WHY SHINSOU IS IN GEN ED: I know I'm going to have some unhappy people, but Shinsou being in 1-C is a pretty major point of the next book. Let's just say I always have seen 1-C as pre-Korosensei 3-E and Shinsou probably will too...the Sports Festival is quaking.
> 
> WHY MIDORIYA WAS GIVEN MACH-2 SPEED: I contemplated long and hard about it, and originally I was going to leave Midoriya quirkless, but then I just thought of how symbolic and beautiful it would be if Korosensei, Number One Villain, gave his greatest quirk to Midoriya to use it to become the Number One Hero.
> 
> Have anything other questions? Ask away below! Until next time!
> 
> In a nutshell: Shinsou thinks Midoriya died saving him (I mean, he kinda does) but Korosensei saves the day, not only taking out the Reaper and Shiro but saving Midoriya’s life while also giving him the ultimate parting gift: a quirk (that he can’t use without spitting up blood). The class says their final goodbyes to Korosensei before they kill him. They graduate from E-class only to get thrown right into END, the government forcing them to become their special police. Shinsou gets his own place and has hardcore PTSD. Nedzu fails to get Shinsou into the hero course but offers him a deal, but no matter what, nothing is stopping this dynamic duo from achieving their dream.


End file.
